He returns to his family's cabin only to find a corpse on the front porch. Fever's boyhood friend, Skidmore Needle is with him when he makes this horrible discovery and, as so many times when they were youngsters, they aid each other. This time they try to puzzle out the mystery on an unnamed corpse. What strikes them both is the uncanny resemblance of the dead man to Fever. He is about the same size and coloring, leading them both to assume that the man had been killed by someone who thought he was Fever. The one problem with this scenario is that no one knew Fever was coming home.

Before they can pursue this line of thinking any further, several shots are fired and they head for cover. Could the shooters be responsible for the death of the man on the cabin porch? As they hurry inside the cabin Fever notices the lock turns easily, and it has not been occupied for three years.

He wonders if perhaps the dead man had been living in the cabin for some time. Skid confirms his friend's thought by noticing the dead man has a key clutched in his hand. The compound problem that they must solve includes the identity of the dead man and the reason for his death. As both men begin to ponder the questions they realize there are many aspects of the situation to examine.

While there are a number of interesting aspects of this novel, there are an equal number of missteps in its execution. Motives are not clear or logical. For example, why is Deputy Needle accompanying Devlin to his cabin in the first place? Fever has been gone for years and has not told anyone he is returning, so how does Skid know he is there? In addition, a colleague of Fever's from the university calls Fever to announce his impending arrival at Fever's cabin. Since these two men are not close friends and has no academic interest in Fever's backwoods community, why is he coming?

The book is not long, only 268 pages, yet there are numerous excursions into folklore in general and its role in a rural community. Only a small portion of this information is germane to the plot. Significant events happen at a snail's pace. There is an extensive description of a man making a chair entirely by hand. Rather fascinating description though it is, it is hardly essential to the plot.

The characters are unique, though all a bit odd. In the case of long time inhabitants of the community, these traits might be explained by their isolation from modern society, but Fever has spent enough time in a university setting to be aware of how others "in the real world" act and talk. Fever has an ego the size of Montana, which does not endear him to the reader. He is determined that all shall know how brilliant he is. Appalachian society dictates that people interact indirectly. No one begins a conversation by asking a question he wants answered. Fever explains this procedure carefully. He chats with his friend who makes chairs about chairmaking. In the middle of the conversation, his friend abruptly changes the subject and tell him what he wants to know without being asked. The change of pace as well as change of subject was out of left field.

The mystery is very convoluted as is its resolution. The author spends the last fifty pages (remember the book is only 268 pages long) explaining what happened and why it happened. The reader is unaware of many of the motives and circumstances until this point. Some critical editing would be of benefit to both author and reader.

--Andy Plonka