Review: Murder at Tophouse by Clair M. Poulson

 

 

Murder at Tophouse by Clair M. Poulson

272 pages

Published March 3rd 2015 by Covenant Communications 

Source: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Description: Officer Mike Denton can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. Since the shooting that nearly killed him, Mike has attempted to piece his life back together. Just when he thought things were starting to look up, false allegations leveled by his partner, Cal Granberg, have led to his suspension, and Mike begins to suspect that Cal may have played a role in the deadly attack. He has only one clue: a conversation he was never meant to hear involving guns in New Zealand.

Suspicious that he may have stumbled on an illegal gun trafficking plot, Mike sees his suspension as an opportunity to conduct an independent investigation into the shady actions of his ex-partner. He prepares for a month-long vacation to New Zealand to find the proof that would clear his good name but what he couldn't prepare for his lovely young New Zealander Skylie Yates, a woman with her own troubles. A dangerous enemy believes that Skylie is the key to finding a hidden fortune. The problem: Skylie claims to know nothing about the money. Now, Mike must set aside his own quest for evidence in order to discover who's behind the threats to the woman he's coming to care for. But when his two investigations collide and Skylie's life hangs in the balance, Mike finds himself in a race against time to unearth a corruption far deeper than he could have imagined . . .

My Review: This story is mostly told in first person, from Mike's view. Mike is a detective with the LAPD and after being shot in the head and put on leave, he decides to go to New Zealand for a break. On the way there, he meets Skylie, who is heading home after college, and discovers that she has troubles of her own. It's a race against time to discover who is after Mike and who is threatening Skylie. 

There were moments when I was really caught up in this crime story and there other moments when I wanted just a little more. This author does a really good job of drawing a reader into the suspense. He really knows his stuff and knows how to weave a good story. Being a woman and a romantic at heart, there were times when I wanted to see the relationships, romance, and friendships unfold instead of being told that they happened. For the most part, the story moved along at a nice pace, but there were occasional moments of too many things going on at once and it overwhelmed me.

I didn't feel that I knew Mike or Skylie really well, but I did like that they were both proactive and took charge of their situations, instead of sitting back and letting life happen to them. Mike was quite mature for a late-20s man and I liked that he was a clear thinker. Although Skylie was in her early-20s, she was clever and resourceful.

I really like a book that takes a unique setting and places twists, turns, and suspense into it. I've read books by this author before and will continue to do so. 

Content: Mild romance; moderate violence (deaths, blood, kidnapping, etc--not graphic or gory); no language or religious elements.

 

About the Author:
Clair M. Poulson was born and raised in Duchesne, Utah. His father was a rancher and farmer, his mother a librarian. Clair has always been an avid reader, having found his love for books as a very young boy.

He has served for forty years in the criminal justice system. Twenty years were spent in law enforcement, ending his police career with eight years as the Duchesne County Sheriff. For the past twenty years Clair has worked as a justice court judge for Duchesne County. Clair is also a veteran of the US Army where he was a military policeman. He has served on various boards and councils during his professional career, including the Justice Court Board of Judges, Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Utah Judicial Council, Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, an FBI advisory board and others.

In addition to his criminal justice work, Clair has farmed and ranched all of his life. He has raised many kinds of animals, but his greatest interest is horses.

Clair has served in many capacities in the LDS church, including fulltime missionary (California Mission) bishop, counselor to bishop, young men president, high councilor, stake mission president, scoutmaster, High Priest group leader, etc. He currently serves as a Sunday School teacher.

Clair is married to Ruth, and together, they have five children, all of whom are married: Alan (Vicena) Poulson, Kelly Ann (Wade) Hatch, Amanda (Ben) Semadeni, Wade (Brooke) Poulson, and Mary (Tyler) Hicken. Between them they have twenty-three children. Clair and Ruth met while both were students at Snow College and were married in the Manti temple.

Clair has always loved telling his children, and later his grandchildren, make-up stories. His vast experience in life and his love of literature has always contributed to both his telling stories to children and his writing of adventure and suspense novels.

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