Big Apple: A Cletus Parr Mystery
Big Apple
© 2004 Richard S. Wheeler
Publish America ISBN: 1-4137-3796-x
Here's a good mystery from an unexpected source. Richard S. Wheeler, has published more than fifty titles of historical fiction, and won awards for his work. With Big Apple he ventures into new ground and does it with the same panache with which western fiction readers are accustomed.
Big Apple offers an offbeat, likeable character, Cletus Parr, who is a private investigator and occasional livestock inspector in Billings, Montana. Parr is called to action to discover who killed Big Apple, the seven-times National Cutting Horse Champion. His good detective work is punctuated with his quirky habits (like when/where he puts on deodorant) and a cast of highly believable and distinctive characters, from Rex Pattee (Big Apple's owner), to Parr's secretary/girlfriend, Estelle, to the sleazy Willy-Jay--a suspect in the case.
Along with his usual good writing, Wheeler also gives fine details about cutting horses and their people. If you aren't familiar with the sport, Wheeler introduces you to it with style; if you are knowledgeable, you'll appreciate his excellent descriptions:
"…Poco Eddie was brilliant, serene as he sliced one of the skinny long horned Mexican steers…from the pack. But no sooner had the steer been cut out than it exploded, racing, probing, ducking, feinting, pausing to throw its adversary off balance. Poco Eddie was a match, a fireball of flowing force, effortlessly wheeling and blocking and anticipating, so that not even that wily little brindle broke through. So complete was Poco Eddie's victory that at last the steer stood in the center of the arena, stock-still and quiet…"
Mystery fans can only hope Big Apple isn't a one-time occurrence from Wheeler's repertoire, and that we'll soon see Cletus Parr solving another livestock crime.
Visit Richard S. Wheeler's web site and read his comments about the book.
Big Apple offers an offbeat, likeable character, Cletus Parr, who is a private investigator and occasional livestock inspector in Billings, Montana. Parr is called to action to discover who killed Big Apple, the seven-times National Cutting Horse Champion. His good detective work is punctuated with his quirky habits (like when/where he puts on deodorant) and a cast of highly believable and distinctive characters, from Rex Pattee (Big Apple's owner), to Parr's secretary/girlfriend, Estelle, to the sleazy Willy-Jay--a suspect in the case.
Along with his usual good writing, Wheeler also gives fine details about cutting horses and their people. If you aren't familiar with the sport, Wheeler introduces you to it with style; if you are knowledgeable, you'll appreciate his excellent descriptions:
"…Poco Eddie was brilliant, serene as he sliced one of the skinny long horned Mexican steers…from the pack. But no sooner had the steer been cut out than it exploded, racing, probing, ducking, feinting, pausing to throw its adversary off balance. Poco Eddie was a match, a fireball of flowing force, effortlessly wheeling and blocking and anticipating, so that not even that wily little brindle broke through. So complete was Poco Eddie's victory that at last the steer stood in the center of the arena, stock-still and quiet…"
Mystery fans can only hope Big Apple isn't a one-time occurrence from Wheeler's repertoire, and that we'll soon see Cletus Parr solving another livestock crime.
Visit Richard S. Wheeler's web site and read his comments about the book.
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