Jack and Roxanne are having lunch in a Portland restaurant near her workplace when several teenagers race by their window. Roxanne gasps, then takes off after the gang. Jack follows, not knowing what to expect. When he catches up with Roxanne she is trying to prevent a gang from severely hurting a skinny boy with glasses. Jack intercedes and breaks up the fight, but it is evident that Rocky, the skinny kid, has been badly hurt.

Rocky refuses to allow them to take him to a hospital, and takes flight when they suggest that his parents should be contacted. Roxanne, having worked with many children like Rocky, realizes that to force him would be a mistake and lets him go.

Several days later on his way to work, Jack recognizes Rocky on the street and tries to pursue him. He eventually catches up with him in a store and establishes some rapport with the child. He thinks he has Rocky convinced it would be smart to make a visit to the emergency room, and mentions in passing that he lives in a small town called Prosperity which is on the way to Bangor. Rocky seems interested in getting to Bangor, but more and more nervous about the hospital. He knows he'll have to give his name and his parents will be contacted so he opts to run off.

Returning home that evening, Jack notices a single set of footprints in the snow leading to his house. He contacts the police to report a suspected robbery. Unfortunately, he realizes too late that the footprints belong to Rocky, who has decided to take refuge at Jack's. When Rocky discovers that Jack has called the police, he sets off into the cold once again. Jack inadvertently has created a problem for himself. The police will think he has lured Rocky to his home for illicit purposes, yet he knows this child is ill equipped for life on the streets and he can't forget about him.

Gerry Boyle has fashioned an interesting mystery in his latest Jack McMorrow mystery. There is a murder, several in fact, but the puzzle that grabs the reader's attention immediately is the mystery of the young teenager, Rocky. Who is he and why is he desperate to escape his home? The reader gradually learns more about Rocky, but the boy is adamant about keeping his family background a secret. The author continues to tease.. a little more information about the child comes to light, but more problems arise and the child's true nature remains unknown. The development of Rocky's character as well as that of the ongoing series characters, Jack and Roxanne is masterfully related.

Though there is a well thought out plot, the real impetus of this novel is the realistically drawn characters. As one might expect of a novel set in Maine in the winter, the weather plays a significant role in the story. Cold and snow are important, but it is not the same as Alaskan snow or northern Michigan snow. The weather in this part of Maine is damper, more bone chilling. Humidity and temperature are equal partners. That homeless people can actually survive in such a climate is amazing.

Home Body carries the underlying theme of child abuse. Rocky is abused by his stepfather but also, in a way, by his mother who unquestionably loves him to distraction. The one homeless teenager who feels some compassion for Rocky, Tammy, is also a victim, but of a different sort. Their situations, though told with compassion, do not fill the reader with happy thoughts, though there is ample food for thought in this book.

--Andy Plonka