No Good Deed Left Undone

Though the second installment in author Ginny Fite’s Sam Lagarde mystery series, one can mercifully read it without any knowledge of its predecessor. The book revolves around the murder of Grant Wodehouse, murdered through a pitchfork stabbing, with many believing he got his just desserts, given his sexual experiences. The writer acknowledges friends, her sons, and artists in the production of her novel, and dedicates the second entry to her husband David. Before the main text is a quote from Buddhist monk Shantideva stating that suffering comes from a personal desire to be happy, and that happiness comes from a desire for others to be happy.

The main events open on October 12 at 8:15 am, with investigator Sam Lagarde investigating the murder, although the story occasionally goes back in time, for instance, in the second chapter, where Grant Wodehouse is still alive, considering himself lucky in spite of troubles with his son and law firm. Lagarde interviews others such as Grant’s wife Emma Wodehouse, with a few suspects such as John Knowles and Elaine Tabor. Augmenting the evidence is the displacement of a horse named Paul some ten miles from its home, with Grant’s son Kyle in hiding for various reasons, and oversleeping.

The novel ends on October 16 in the afternoon, with the mystery having a satisfactory conclusion, and the culprit in Grant Wodehouse’s murder being crystal clear. As this reviewer mentioned before, one can enjoy this suspense story without having read its predecessor, and reading the sequel first very much whets this writer’s appetite to want to read said predecessor. There are some occasional unusual elements such as Paul being a bit of an asinine equine name, but even so, fans of the mystery literary genre will definitely find satisfaction in this engaging yarn, the book highly recommended overall.

Ginny Fite is an award-winning journalist who has covered crime, politics, government, healthcare, art and all things human. She's been a spokesperson for a governor and a member of Congress, a few colleges and universities, and a robotics R&D company. She earned degrees from Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University and studied at the School for Women Healers and the Maryland Poetry Therapy Institute. No Good Deed, published by Black Opal Books in 2015, is her second Sam Lagarde mystery/thriller set in Charles Town, West Virginia.

Connect with the author:  Website  ~  Twitter  ~  Facebook