“Some guys have a code they live by, some guys don’t.
John Ceepak? He has a code.
Me? No code. Not unless you count my zip code or something.”
So says Danny Boyle, a Sea Haven 2.5. That is to say a part time summer cop in a tourist town on the Jersey shore called New Haven. He is a hometown boy, who likes the job because of the cop cap, which he believes attracts the babes.
Ceepak in the other hand just finished a thirteen-year stint with the army. He was Military Police. Before the army he studied criminology. Before that he was an Eagle Scout. Before that, Boyle figures he was one helluva hall monitor in kindergarten. He is a cop 24/7. One thing they have in common is The Boss, Bruce Springsteen.
Every morning they meet at 7:30 at the Pancake Palace to discuss the plans for the day. What first starts out to be a case of a stolen tricycle gets shoved aside as a girl runs down the boardwalk covered with blood screaming that a crazy man on the ride the Tilt-A-Whirl has killed her father.
The murder victim is Reginald Hart a very wealthy real estate tycoon also known as Reginald Hartless because of the lowdown tactics he has used in the past to drive tenants out of buildings so that he can either raze them or renovate them and rent them at higher prices. Ceepak and Boyle immediately begin the process of sorting through the clues left at the scene of the crime and dealing with the aftermath of the young girl in shock and the media circus of a high profile murder at a summer resort.
The Chief of Police at Sea haven is an old army buddy of Ceepak’s and recruited him to his police force as soon as he retired from the military and he has every confidence in him. However within a day or so of the murder, Ashley Hart, the daughter of the dead man and the only heir to his multimillion-dollar business is kidnapped. So far the only suspect is a tramp and drug addict known as Squeegee because he once worked a local carwash.
On the surface Sea Haven is an idyllic summer barrier island chock full of eateries and motels with typical cute names like Do Me Flavor, Mussel Beach Motel, Buccaneer Bob’s Bagels, Sharky’s and so on. But things are not adding up for Ceepak and Boyle. There are too many questions and too few answers. How did Squeegee get a gun, is he the only one with a motive? The kidnapping is too professional and well planned for a drug addict so who else is involved? There are obviously a few serpents in this paradise.
Ceepak’s code is simple. He will not tell a lie, or steal or cheat, or tolerate those who do. It is an honor code. It is something Danny Boyle is learning to live by as well. He is having to grow up this summer and it is about time. As the story unfolds we learn a little about what makes John Ceepak the man that he is and the Tilt-A-Whirl murder stretches his sense of honor to the limits.
Chris Grabenstein has a wonderful way with words. From the moment the story begins you yourself are on a wild, exhilarating ride, with the wind in your face, the smell of salt air mingling with the smell of popcorn and the sound of laughter in the background. Grabenstein paints distinct visuals that remain with you long after the book is finished. There is one description of a chase of a wild haired man through a working car wash that made me laugh like a hyena. So many of his descriptions keep a smile on your face that this dead seriousness of the crime and the criminality of what goes on in Sea Haven and else where is lightened a bit.
In this series, which is followed by MAD MOUSE, which is also the name of a ride at an amusement park, there is plenty of amusement. But there is plenty of seriousness as well always lightened by Bruce Springsteen quotes chosen appropriately for the moment. At the end of TILT-A-WHIRL when John and Danny have to pick their spirits up Danny is reminded of the song Springsteen wrote for the New York City Firefighters after 9/11, the ones who went into the fire because they knew it was the right thing to do
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love
Danny decides to work on his code as well.
MURDER by TYPE 
I love this series – have listened to them all as audio books and am sad that we have to wait until 2012 for the next one
Hi, Bernadette.
I’ve posted Condorena’s reviews of other books on the site. If she recommends it, you can be sure it is worth reading.
Some series are roller coaster rides in that the quality varies from book to book. Not so with this Chris Grabenstein series as you point out. There is always a good mystery, well written with interesting characters that make you shake your head, either in recognition as in I surely have seen some one like that or I would love to see some one like that. That’s where the amusement comes in.
The titles of Grabenstein’s books and the covers are attention grabbers. I need to keep Grabenstein in mind so I don’t lose him in the ever growing pile of books.
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