Poison the Well
by Gordon Bonnet
Snowe Agency is a most unusual group of private detectives.
There’s the brisk, efficient Bethany Hale — who has precognitive, but often highly symbolic, dreams. There’s the stammering, shy telekinetic, Jeff Kolnikoff. There’s Troy Seligman, who would really rather just be home with his family than solving crimes, but is blessed (or cursed) with an ability to perform astral projection. There’s the odd, reclusive Callista Lee, whose skills as a telepath are off the charts. Then there’s the latest hire — handsome, swaggering Seth Augustine, who is a brilliant psychometer, but would just as soon use his unusual talent to find a beautiful woman to spend the night with. And this mismatched band is led by the elegant, enigmatic, silver-haired Mr. Parsifal Snowe, who somehow gets them all to work like a well-oiled machine.
And this time, they’d better. Because they’re working on a new case… trying to find the murderer of a man whose champagne was poisoned at a wedding reception. The problem is… he has no identification, and everyone at the wedding claims that they have no idea who he was. Someone obviously did… and that someone had a motive for murder.
I was not prepared for a paranormal murder mystery, which is what this novel is. I had expected Mr. Bonnett’s new novel to be another interesting spin on something in the realm of the paranormal, and it didn’t disappoint – it just wasn’t quite at the forefront as it is in most of Mr. Bonnett’s published work. It nestled quite nicely into the main crux of the plot without being too overwhelming. While I wasn’t prepared for a murder mystery, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the story, and read almost all of it in one sitting.
As I read, I was constantly reminded of an Agatha Christie movie: kind of an old-fashioned whodunit kind of affair. The plot moves along at a good pace, and every time I believed I figured out who the murderer was, the author through another curve that put me straight back to the thinking drawing board.
As in all of Mr. Bonnett’s work that I’ve read, his dialogue is absolutely stunning. He managed to make each character – and there were a lot of them – sound different, and sound realistic at the same time.
I also got the sense of an Avengers type story: a collection of characters that I think Mr. Bonnett will continue with in a series. I came to appreciate each one of them, and especially the sideline character of Jeff, who we suspect from the beginning has an interesting talent, but we are never quite shown what it is until the moment when it becomes the most useful. The author sets this up quite well throughout the novel so that we know it is coming, and we anticipate it, wait for it, appreciate it when it does occur. Very well done, Mr. Bonnett.
I remain wondering what Mr. Snowe’s talent is – and I imagine the author has left that a secret on purpose — to lend him mystique.
The writing is clean, and the grammar is clean. This was a fun read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries. See if you can figure out who it is.
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Now, enough about the story, let me tell you about Gordon.
I met Gordon working on The With Love Project. This project is a charity program that The Writing Network and Osier Publishing have pulled together to support Doctors without Borders. Gordon submitted his work for review and inclusion to the project.
As part of that project, Sarah Barnard of Osier Publishing and I read every entry. Gordon’s got to me, big time. Everything I’ve read of his since, lingers in my mind. Since then we’ve connected and learned a great deal about each other. He is an inspiration and the guide of young minds as a teacher. He has a good heart and supports other writers. He’s native to Louisiana, but living in upstate New York. He is, without question, exceptionally talented.
This multi-published author creates worlds that you have to experience from the first taste. His creations dive into the psyche in a way few others can achieve. I would comfortably liken him to an Edgar Allen Poe style and ability.
If you have not read his work before this is a fantastic opportunity to pick up his book.
Don’t miss out on Poison the Well
