Five Card Stud: A Jake Hines Mystery

One stormy night in Rutherford, Minn., police detective Jake Hines (of Triple Play and Par Four) and his buddies are comfortably ensconced in a poker game when an urgent call comes in about a half-naked man found dead in a snowbank. As Jake reluctantly makes his way to the snowy crime scene, he calls in an eccentric dermatologist and part-time coroner, ""Pokey"" Pokornoskovic, to help with the investigation. Although considerably hampered by the blizzard conditions, they determine that this is a case of brutal murder, not the more usual winter storm death from hypothermia or suicide. The fiercely cold Minnesota winter weather continues to affect just about everything Jake and his fellow investigators do over the next few weeks. The author takes the reader straight through both the dogged routine and the hectic excitement of a homicide inquiry, as the detectives and the coroner determine that the victim is a long-haul truck driver, and that his partner, his truck and his valuable equipment are all missing. Occasionally, the fine details threaten to overwhelm the story, but generally Gunn's characters have enough idiosyncrasies and personal problems to keep them interesting, while the narrative remains firmly focused on the murder investigation. Gunn has produced a refreshingly straightforward, suspenseful procedural in a series that bears watching. Agent, Kristin Lindstrom Agency. (May)