Sleight of Hand: A Jo Banks Mystery - Hardcover

Hathaway, Robin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031237092X ISBN 13: 9780312370923

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2008

Synopsis

Dr. Jo Banks is well settled in her rather unusual life as one of the few doctors in the New Jersey fields, her office in a motor inn run by a pair of friendly, elderly Jersey-ites.  But New York City is where she grew up, and there are times when she thinks back to those days with her father.  One day, as she is driving home from her rounds at the hospital in the nearby town, she hears a familiar sound coming from a barn.  It is the hum of an out-of-date printing press, a brand her father used. On an impulse, Jo leaves her motorcycle in the road and walks down to the barn housing the machine.

But the printer is hardly welcoming. While she is trying to talk to him, he catches his hand in the press, and Jo bursts into action.  Although she removes the screws from the roller that is clamping the man’s fingers and offers to drive him to the hospital, he refuses to go and insists she treat him in his home.

The strange episode leads to Jo’s calling daily to attend to the man’s injury.  She learns that he’s living with his daughter—a grown woman who possesses the mind of a child—that they are from New York, and that his wife has mysteriously disappeared.  The printer is roughly grateful for Jo’s care, but he has much on his mind, and he will not leave his house. Jo begins to suspect he is connected to a recent local murder. 

Robin Hathaway rewards her readers with another rich story of the lives of people who live and work in the New Jersey farmland.  Sleight of Hand is a worthy addition to this finely crafted series.

About this title

About the Author

Robin Hathaway won the SMP/Malice Domestic Competition for Best First Traditional Mystery Novel in 1997 and the 1998 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. She divides her time between New York City and Philadelphia.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

SLEIGHT OF HAND
CHAPTER 1It was a beautiful October morning and I was heading for the hospital on my motorcycle to make my early rounds. The road stretched out in front of me, smooth and empty, begging me to turn up the throttle. The speedometer had barely touched seventy when I noticed that the sweep of road ahead, usually deserted, was clogged. I decelerated back to forty.State police cars lined both sides of the road and troopers milled around, crossing and recrossing. A small cluster of spectators ogled something by the side of the road.A deer was my first thought. But why would a deer attract so much attention? Deer accidents were a dime a dozen in these parts. Cutting my motor, I trolled over to an officer and asked, "What's up?""Move on!" He tried to wave me through, taking time to cast a disdainful glance at my secondhand Honda.I trundled over to the pack of people by the side of the road and repeated my question. A disheveled blonde wearing a sweatshirt with the slogan COWTOWN RODEO looked up. "Dead man," she said succinctly.I decided not to linger. I'd had my fill of dead men for one year. A band of bikers had invaded my motel a few months ago and oneof them had been murdered in the parking lot. I had even been a suspect for a while. I wasn't anxious to get involved in another crime scene. I caught myself up short. Crime scene? Why not a simple hit-and-run? "What happened?" I asked the blonde.She looked up again, her eyes glazed with excitement. "Two bullet holes in the back of the head."A burly man in a plaid shirt and stained overalls turned to me. "I found him," he said proudly. "I live right across the road." He waved at a small frame house that was almost hidden from view by the huge American flag hanging from the porch.Congratulations, I thought. But I said, "No one you know, I hope."He shook his head. "A stranger." Did I detect a note of disappointment? "No ID yet," he added in his best Law & Order tone.An unmarked car pulled up and a man I knew only too well got out. Detective Hiram Peck. He had been in charge of the biker case. Time to move on. A trooper with the same idea came over and began shooing us away. The little knot of rubberneckers scattered and I turned up the throttle. I could learn all I wanted to know at the hospital when they brought the body into the morgue.SLEIGHT OF HAND. Copyright © 2008 by Robin Hathaway. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 031237092X
• ISBN 13: 9780312370923
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256