Everybody's Somebody's Fool

### From Publishers Weekly Shamus-winner Gorman's niftily titled new novel opens on a warm summer night in 1961 in Black River Falls, Iowa. Soon after a girl turns up dead at a class reunion party, her drag-racing boyfriend slams into a clay wall at 90 miles an hour. An obvious accident-but then the police find his brake line had been cut. Reluctantly, McCain enters the investigation, which involves jilted girlfriends, unfaithful spouses and a clever, resourceful killer. Besides being a competent, suspenseful mystery with more than a few surprises, this fifth in the series (Save the Last Dance for Me, etc.) is a fascinating time machine, recalling the arcana of a more innocent time (sick jokes, the Maverick TV series, teenagers using the phrase "Daddy-O"). Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. ### From Booklist Every burg, large or small, is driven by the same human emotions of passion, jealousy, greed, and ambition. These are the hard lessons young lawyer Sam McCain has absorbed since he returned to his hometown, Black River Falls, Iowa, in 1961 to eke out a meager living as a lawyer and part-time investigator. When young Sara Griffin, troubled daughter of a prominent family, is murdered at a party, Sam is hired to defend the primary suspect, local bad boy David Egan. Corrupt Sheriff Cliffie Sykes pins the Griffin murder on Egan; then Egan dies under mysterious circumstances while drag racing. McCain feels obligated to clear Egan's name. It's apparent he's unearthed a link to the real killer when a third victim is discovered. The fifth McCain mystery builds on its predecessors as Sam's optimistic naivete is ceaselessly challenged by brutal acts perpetrated in the name of love. But love isn't the real motive; it's trumped by ego and self-preservation. Another fine entry in a wonderful series that deserves a much wider audience. *Wes Lukowsky* *Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved* Python function terminated unexpectedly [Errno 9] Bad file descriptor (Error Code: 1)

It's Christmastime 1960 in Black River Falls, Iowa, but with an Indian summer keeping the temperature at 75 degrees, it sure doesn't feel like winter. It's so warm, in fact, that the Lucky Star Drive-In is still open, and Rick Conroy is still drag-racing the nights away with his friends on a deadly stretch of highway outside of town. When Rick slams fatally into a bridge at 90 miles an hour, holiday cheer veers toward foul play, for the police find his brake line to be as lacerated as his spine. The solution does not come easily for struggling lawyer and sometime-investigator Sam McCain, who is dragged into the case by the incorrigible Judge Esme Anne Whitney. Leads go nowhere, tensions mount. Add to that his personal problems—his father has lung cancer and a recent one-night stand is pointing to scandal—and it's no wonder the holiday heat wave is making this McCain Christmas the darkest, and most dangerous, of the decade. [Sam McCain is] "the kind of hero any small town could take to its heart."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review Gorman wonderfully evokes the sorrows and pleasures of a certain Midwestern past."—The Wall Street Journal "Gorman's successful capturing of time and place ... sharply evokes the twilight of the '50s."—Los Angeles Times

No one is surprised when a local hot rod hero slams into a bridge at ninety miles per hour, but when his brake cable turns up cleanly severed, lawyer and part-time investigator Sam McCain is on the case