Title: The Less Than Spectacular Times of Henry Milch
Series: The Wyandot County Mysteries: Book One
Author: Marshall Thornton
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 236 Pages
Category: Murder Mystery
At a Glance: Witty, often biting, and impeccable, The Less Than Spectacular Times of Henry Milch begins a thoroughly engaging murder mystery series sure to be another tick in the win column for author Marshall Thornton.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Things have not been going well for Henry Milch. After a Saturday night clubbing in his beloved West Hollywood, he took one pill too many and ended up banished to northern lower Michigan to live on a farm with his ultra-conservative grandmother. It was that or rehab. While working a part-time job for the local land conservancy he stumbles across a dead body in the snow—as if things couldn’t get worse. But then things take a turn for the better, there’s a reward for information leading the man’s killer. All Henry has to do is find the murderer, claim the reward and he can go back to his real life in L.A.
Review: “Things have not been going well for Henry Milch” is a bit of an understatement. If you take that for gospel and then add it to this novel’s rather tongue-in-cheek title, what you end up with is the makings of a witty, often biting, and impeccable murder mystery the likes of which has left me wanting more—much more—of Henry “Mooch” Milch.
Mooch isn’t what anyone might call a complimentary epithet, but it’s not necessarily inaccurate either. Henry is twenty-four-years old, almost OD’d (accidentally, he swears), is in denial of his drug problem, isn’t putting his college degree to work for him, and has just been shipped off by his mom to live with his nana in Michigan because the party life in L.A. just wasn’t cutting it. Much of Henry’s time is spent attempting to convince readers how hyperreactive and wrong his mom is (I remain unconvinced) as well as how much he loathes the backwater wilderness he’s been dumped in (that, I believe). But, he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Henry is flat broke, in debt, and his part-time job at the Wyandot Land Conservancy isn’t going to float him the opportunity to beat it back to his old digs in East Hollywood anytime soon. Add this to the problem of he and his nana mixing like oil and water—or, more accurately, a liberal and a conservative—and it becomes clear that when Henry happens upon a dead body, and then discovers there’s a hefty reward for whomever finds Sammy Hart’s killer, he believes he’s been gifted with his one-way ticket back to California.
He just has to survive long enough to find the murderer and collect the money.
Henry is nothing if not an antihero, more than a little adrift and unmotivated, if we’re being honest, but playing amateur sleuth gives readers a deeper insight into how smart and driven he can be with the proper inspiration. Which is, apparently, money and drugs. But mostly money, because it provides a means to Henry’s goal; the drugs are merely a bonus. Henry’s relationship with his Nana Cole is less than functional, consisting mainly of scowls, digs, judgement, her poking at him and him poking back, her opinions provided by conservative pundits and Sunday morning church services. That Henry isn’t out to her is unsurprising, that they don’t get along even less so.
Readers witness Henry turn the corner from opportunistic to more compassionate and sympathetic, however, as he gets to know Sammy as a person rather than just a dead body and a means to an end, through the investigation. Which, in turn, has the benefit of revealing Henry as a more dimensional character. The final chapter in this introductory novel in the Wyandot County Mysteries series lays the groundwork and sets the stage for Henry’s near future being somewhat less than—certainly different than—he’d planned for, and does so in an emotionally complicated way, again showing readers that Henry isn’t completely self-involved.
This story takes place in 2003, and Thornton does an outstanding job of showing his readers how much (technology) and how little (politics) has changed in nearly two decades. The cast of potential suspects in this murder mystery are abundant and kept me guessing as Henry became more embroiled in the danger, quite literally risking life and limb, and I particularly enjoyed his burgeoning frenemyship with a local woman, Opal, who gives Henry a run for his money in the snark department. Among the highlights is also the portrayal of what could best be described as insular small-town life. One is left with the impression that the family trees in the community don’t contain many branches—nearly everyone is related to everyone else in some close or distant way—and anyone else is an outsider. As they say, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree…. This dynamic comes into play as Henry begins to reveal to readers who Sammy Hart was, where he did and did not fit in, and the potential motive for his murder.
The acerbic wit and imperfect cast of characters portrayed in this accurate, if not perfect, community, hits its mark. The Less Than Spectacular Times of Henry Milch begins what promises to be a thoroughly engaging murder mystery series sure to be another tick in the win column for author Marshall Thornton.
You can buy The Less Than Spectacular Times of Henry Milch here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B0857G7BGT?d” style=”black” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]
NOTE: Bay Books of Suttons Bay, Michigan will be hosting a Book Release Party for The Less Than Spectacular Times of Henry Milch on April 28th beginning at 6 PM (EST). The three-time Lambda Award-winning author will be answering questions, giving away audiobooks and a limited number of signed copies of his other mysteries.
To attend the party via ZOOM you’ll need the Meeting ID: 725-2754-8797 and the password MILCH.