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A Mourning in Autumn

by Harker Moore

A Mourning in Autumn is Harker Moore's second murder mystery novel – and we hope there will be many more. Gripping, riveting, stapling, grabbing, fascinating, engrossing, enthralling – whatever superlative you want to employ, you wouldn't be far out of line in describing this book which I read into the wee hours right to the end. All this, mind, when I'm not an especial fan of Asian culture – and the protagonist Mr. Harker employs is a Japanese detective.

The setting for A Mourning in Autumn is New York City – ubiquitous in its collection of wealthy, middle-class and poor neighborhoods as well as in its collection of odd characters. Real life serial killers seem to gravitate toward the cities – perhaps because they offer so much opportunity for victims. Fictional serial murderers are mirrors of life as well, and the more bizarre their methods of murder the more lifelike they seem to become.

In this novel, Lieutenant James Sakura is faced with a weirdo who first uses a date-rape drug to subdue his targets, smothers them with thin plastic, and finally cuts them open in a parody of an autopsy and reverses their inner organs – carefully replacing them upside down with tiny wires. The killer then cleans up the blood and staples the mock incision together. Once clean, the bodies are wrapped carefully in plastic and dumped. The Prologue introduces us to thoughts of the murderer as he works on a fresh kill. It also introduces us to his knowledge of Left and Right Brain thinking.

Hanae, James' (Jimmy's) blind Japanese wife, has been staying with her relatives in Japan in an attempt to recuperate from a vicious rape and near murder she'd been subjected to. She has just returned, and Jimmy finds himself torn between wanting to be with her and spending the time he needs to complete this new case. However, Hanae isn't yet ready for sex. Since her intuition has been sharpened by lack of sight - and since her involvement in Jimmy's last case was so personal - she's determined to no longer sit back and be only a passive partner. So much to Jimmy's dismay, Hanae takes it upon herself to contribute to solution of the murders by going to the sites where the bodies were discovered and seeing what she can feel.

We're also introduced to other important characters – Dr. Wilhelmina French, a psychiatrist, Michael Darius, a policeman, David St. Cyr, an architect, Margot Redmond and her two red-headed twin boys – also Michael's former wife, now married to a man named Reese. Then there are Dr. Linsky, the medical examiner who does the autopsies, Zoe Kahn, the TV interviewer, Victor Abbott, her overly-enthusiastic fan, and Randy Lancaster, a DJ known as Shaman.

The killings escalate – with changes. The changes aren't in the method of kill and disposal, but in the ages of the victims. And before the murderer is unmasked, the total has mounted to eight – with the latest being Margot Redmond. Even more surprising is the fact that her two twin sons have been kidnapped by the killer.

The focus is immediately shifted. Finding the twin boys before they too are murdered becomes the priority. When everything is eventually resolved, there remains another surprise at the very end of the book. Harker Moore has obviously researched the mentality and psychological makeup of identical twins very carefully, and his knowledge and research of Asian culture likewise. Utterly enjoyable, A Mourning in Autumn is a work with a fresh approach to both plot and protagonist. Read it!

Alan Paul Curtis

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