Arthur Patch, co-owner of La Vucciria,an authentic Sicilian restaurant is one great chef, but has no business acumen. His partner, Joanne Balzer, admittedly deficient in manners, provides, in theory, the business leadership necessary to keep the business afloat. Unfortunately, Arthur manages to amass some debts anyway and borrows money from Larry Coniglio rather than admit his transgressions to Joanne.

Arthur has enough knowledge of Larry’s dealings to be of interest to the local prosecutor, Danielle Gautreau, as well as the FBI. The major problem for law enforcement is to keep Arthur out of harm’s way until he can testify. Larry seems bent on collecting his debt from Arthur one way or another. Arthur’s lawyer, Jimmy Morrissey has money problems of his own, having used some of his client’s money to make money - only he didn’t.

When the FBI offers a substantial reward for locating Tommy Crimmins, Arthur and Jimmy, independently, see the reward as a means of relief from their financial difficulties. The one fly in the ointment is Tommy is very good at hiding, and staying hidden.

If you are a lawyer or have a good working knowledge of the criminal justice system in the United States and Massachusetts in particular, the first one hundred pages of Witness for the Dead will be a lot more comprehensible and, hence, enjoyable. For the remainder of readers the book is initially slow going. In addition, there are so many facets of the plot that need to be developed independently of each other that it becomes a challenge not only to figure out what is going on but, the relevance of each incident. Once all of these little pieces are decoded and arranged in their proper relationship, the story line becomes understandable.

The author gives a generous amount of background information on a variety of subjects. The history of different areas of Boston, especially Dorchester, is discussed at great length. Restaurant buffs and food junkies will probably enjoy Mr. Fredrickson’s description of different types of Italian cooking, especially the imaginary “veal line” that divides the country. A minor exposé of greyhound racing and greyhound adoption receives ample coverage as well. All these subjects have some relevance to the plot, but the action-oriented reader may well complain that the detail allotted for each discussion far exceeds its relevance to the plot.

That the author possesses a dry sense of humor is evident in a number of clever, short quips. For example, Joanne (a lesbian) has a telling comment on men. “We need another gender and, well, they’re it” Or Danielle’s rejoinder to what she considers a put down by Arthur. “ How male of you,” she said dryly. “Congratulating yourself for my insight.”

I would dispute what Danielle and Arthur consider a valid deduction in their quest for finding Tommy Crimmins. They reason that he must have a land line telephone because “You’d attract more attention if you didn’t have one.” Some people have discovered it is actually cheaper to have cellular service exclusively, especially if they do much long distance communication. Also, it’s more convenient if one is on the road frequently.

I also think both Morrissey and Patch got extremely lucky in their efforts to track down Tommy through Mavis. No doubt their methods could have worked, but were they likely to do so? I think not.

All in all, Witness for the Dead is an enjoyable read if you can force yourself through all the lawyerese and mob activity that encompasses the first one hundred pages of the novel.

--Andy Plonka