Irreparable Damages: A Novel

Karlene Heinkel
iUniverse (2007)
ISBN 9780595443222
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (5/08)


Really good murder mysteries are few and far between.  “Irreparable Damages” is one of those books.  I was quickly engaged with the story and stayed that way throughout.  The only problem I found with the book is that it could have had fewer storylines.  I thought that all of the storylines were good, but the author could have easily written two or three books from the storylines in this one.  

A lot can happen behind the scenes in a small town and Hillcrest is no different.  Sheriff Charlie Whitman left the FBI and took the job as Sheriff in the backwater he grew up in because he wanted to live life at a slower pace.  This all changes when his high-school friend Michael Stanford is brutally gunned down at work.  The past is stirred up as everyone gathers for the funeral.  The Stanford brothers have always been prominent, Michael being the most, and are demanding justice for their brother s murder.  Michael’s newly pregnant fiancé is just one of the enigmas that Charlie must figure out in this mystery.  Was the murderer one of Michael s business partners who had large insurance policies on him, or his fiancés’ ex-husband or someone else that Michael might have crossed?  
 
Tension rises and many lives are ruined as people return to town for Michael’s funeral.  The secrets, that each of the main characters harbor, are revealed during flashbacks throughout the story.  These involve high-school pregnancies, affairs, gang rape and a whole lot of very bad behavior on the part of its citizens.   

As the story unravels, Charlie is caught in sorting through the past and uncovering drug rings, bad politics and other illegal activities in the present.  Hillcrest will certainly never be the same after this is over.  Many of its citizens will be in sent to prison and the town’s economy will be shaken to its very core.

Overall, I found the story to be very good.  I would definitely recommend “Irreparable Damages” to murder mystery lovers everywhere.  I look forward to seeing more stories by this author in the future.  She definitely knows how to write a good story.

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