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for “Shadows and Lies”
What happens when a rich client, three beautiful women, a shifty businessman, a gambler and a missing spouse are all suspected of murder? The results are a merry-go-round of shadows and lies in a house of cards with clues almost as old as Carson.
Greed, blackmail, infidelity, murder, serial killers and a twenty-year-old crime spin a tale that is practically unbelievable – with the truth masked behind a story that nobody wants told.
This old fashion ‘whodunit’ takes Carson Reno and his crew on a complicated adventure, which has too many victims and too many suspects.
Come along and help Carson find the clues and discover the truth as he tries to make sense of all the
Shadows and Lies
Author Darnell pulled me right in from the prologue and made me sit in the lobby of The Peabody Hotel.
This was my first Carson Reno detective novel, and I’m now a fan. A detective story that weaves its way through magnificently described settings; Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960’s, and characters that come to life, in front of you. Darnell’s ability to described and develop his cast of players is marvelous. I got to know his main character, Carson Reno, as he, in the first person, tells the story, and lets me know his feelings and thoughts, in his own irreverent way. From the prologue, I felt as if, Author Darnell, had pulled me in by my shirt collar, into The Peabody Hotel’s lobby, where Carson has his detective office, next to the Down Under Bar. I didn’t have to guess what the characters looked like, no, I could see all of them, their quirks and mannerisms. The murder plot (or murders), is very intriguing, twist and turns, clues everywhere, multiple suspects— that make the amateur detective in all of us, ‘sleuth’ our way through the book. If you enjoy a detective –whodunit novel, you’ll enjoy this one. “Another Jack Daniels and Coke please, Andy,” said Reno.
Viv Drewa 