Hidden Chamber of Death

In the first installment of author Hawk MacKinney’s Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series, former Navy SEAL and part-time investigator Craige Ingram seeks the link between apparent random murders and a financial conspiracy. He works with another Navy retiree to protect a widow and resolve the case before others die, although a crazed killer seeks to stop them. The prologue opens with the philosophy that death is rarely dignified, ever truer if the reason is a felony murder, in which case the victim is a portly man named Royce Sedgewicke, and although the official reason for his demise is allegedly a heart attack, others disagree.

The main chapters introduce Craige Ingram, who wakes to a foggy day with his German shepherd Lucky and is stills suffering jetlag from visiting Siberia. Also introduced early on is Barry Jamison Peters, the novel indicating that he was once handsome in prep school and college, but ultimately regressing to his current bulky demeanor. Other characters include mother and son Terri and Jeff Stanley, with their family having recently lost its patriarch, and which Craige attempts to comfort. Barry patrols the local bar of a hotel for help with the case, which is busier than usual with a convention in town, although his night proves to be slow.

Among the final characters introduced is Garland Holton, with whom Craige has a somewhat strenuous relation. There are occasional twists and turns that keep the story enjoyable throughout, with things becoming somewhat tense towards the end, culminating in a solid conclusion, with room left for follow-ups, which have at the time of this review’s writing have not been yet written. The novel is riveting for the most part, with an agile flow, decent descriptions of various elements that paint a nice picture for the reader, and overall fans of thrillers and mysteries will likely enjoy this work.

 

Internationally acclaimed author and public speaker, Hawk MacKinney began writing mysteries for his school newspapers. Following graduation, he served in the US Navy for over 20 years. While serving as a Navy Commander, he also had a career as a full-time faculty member at several major state medical facilities. He earned two postgraduate degrees with studies in languages and history. He has taught postgraduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem, Israel.

In addition to professional articles and texts on fetal and adult anatomy, Hawk has authored several novels that have received national and international recognition.Moccasin Trace, a historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. This was followed by the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. In a change of direction, October of 2012 saw the release of Hawk’s first science fiction novel, The Bleikovat Event, in The Cairns of Sainctuarie series. Volume II, The Missing Planets, was released in 2014 with Volume III in the works.

​Hawk’s latest project focuses on The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Hidden Chamber of Death is Book 1 in the series.

​Connect with the author:  Website