NOTE: This review was originally published in Red Adept Reviews on April 15, 2011.
Overall: 4 3/4 stars
Plot/Storyline: 5 stars
John Royle was a modern-day version of Philip Marlowe. He was a hardboiled private investigator working in the town of St. Andrews, Scotland. In debt to both his landlord and the bar he frequented, he was desperate for paying clients, so when Elsa Courtney, an American tourist, walked into his office asking for help in finding her brother Hank, who's disappeared, Royle took the case, even though he suspected that Elsa wasn't telling the whole truth.
Like any good murder mystery, there were plenty of suspects and red herrings. The story took place in and around St. Andrews, Scotland, home of the hallowed Royal and Ancient Golf Club's Old Course, where golf originated. There was plenty of golf history and lore, but this was not really a golf story as such. Anyone who loves a cracking good murder mystery should enjoy the story.
The title, The Road Hole Bunker Mystery, piqued my curiosity enough to go online to look up the famous Road Hole Bunker next to the 17th green. It played a key role in the story, and when you see a picture of it, you'll understand why golfers dread having their shots end up there. I also looked up St. Andrews on Google Earth, and it was fun to follow the story with aerial views of the locations in the town and the Old Course where the story took place.
Characters: 5 stars
John Royle was the embodiment of Philip Marlowe and a reincarnation of the classic film noir detectives of 1930s-1940s films. Give Humphrey Bogart a Scottish burr, and that's him. He was a great character, and he was a tireless bloodhound when he was on a case.
Jim Crawford was a flamboyant gangster who appeared to be the prime suspect, and he had a motive to kill the victim. The local police thought it was an open-and-shut case, but Royle smelled a rat.
The other characters added plenty of background color, and some of them were invaluable to Royle in solving the case. Davy and Willie were a couple of old barflies, but they knew just about everything about everyone in town. If Royle could keep them sober, would their knowledge of St. Andrews help him crack the case?
Writing style: 5 stars
The author did a marvelous job of recreating the style of the classic detective stories of pulp fiction fame. Setting the story in real places (St. Andrews, Dundee, and Glasgow) was a nice touch. Dialogues were realistic and had the grittiness that a reader of classic murder mysteries would expect.
Editing: 4 stars
The book needed an editor and proofreader. There were too many punctuation errors and typos. I hate this, because I really enjoyed the story and wanted to give it five stars.
