BOOK REVIEW

New mystery novel offers more than a simple whodunit

Reviewed by Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
April 5, 2007

A good mystery novel unravels more than an unsolved crime. As the detectives close in on the culprit and discover the motive and execution of the crime, they also unveil a little more about one of the world’s greatest mysteries: human beings.

If the plot and characters are engrossing enough, the headier questions in the book — which at some level boil down to why men and women do the things they do — lie just at the story’s surface, offering the reader something to meditate upon beyond the mere mechanics of crime.

Local Catholic author Michael J. Rayes manages to wed such a meditation to a well-crafted mystery for children and young teens in his new book “Bank Robbery!”

The novel opens with Tom Spencer and Rick Kline, friends and amateur sleuths who have just graduated from high school in the fictional Southwestern town of Creekwater.

They are in hot pursuit of a car linked to a recent bank robbery. Throughout the book, the two young men are assisted by Tom’s uncle, a Catholic priest, in solving a crime that turns out to be much larger than they initially thought.

It’s a good thing Tom and Rick have devoted their summer vacation to high speed pursuits, sneaking about junkyards and stake-outs in abandoned lots, because Creekwater’s police department seems highly understaffed and vaguely incompetent.

The boys, on the other hand, share the qualities that any young reader would want to find in high school detectives: ingenuity, courage and a healthy skepticism of anyone who thinks they’re too young for the job.

If this description reminds anyone of two other boy detectives who share the last name of Hardy, it should. And what made their escapades so enjoyable — a rapidly moving plot, cliffhangers at the end of each chapter and the pleasure of seeing the underdog outwit his elders — works just as well in Rayes’ book.

One aspect that separates “Bank Robbery!” from others in its genre is the presence of a natural Catholicism. After a close call with the criminals, Tom Spencer spontaneously offers the Memorare to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Humorously — and realistically — Tom’s slightly less devout counterpart Rick doesn’t know the words to this prayer, and is relieved when Tom segues into the more familiar Hail Mary.

The presence of Tom’s uncle, Fr. Spencer, also lends a distinctive Catholic feel to the book. He shares his family’s preternatural ability to solve crimes, but is also aided — one assumes — by a Thomistic foundation.

At least, Fr. Spencer uses the language of St. Thomas Aquinas when musing about virtue, vice and acts of the will that might spell the downfall of a man.

For the most part, his demeanor as a wise and holy man who can intuit the underlying impulses of human action ring true and plausible. He offers a moral dimension to the story that can inform a young reader without distracting from the main plot, which is where Rayes does his best work.

The boys are propelled from scene to scene, piecing the mystery together while getting into and extracting themselves from all sorts of predicaments. The climax of the story reads especially well. It’s quick, tight and highly suspenseful.

Rayes renders Tom and Rick’s youthful bravery all the more believable when Tom breaks down in shakes and sobs after narrowly escaping capture and, perhaps, even death.

The narrator doesn’t dwell on this scene. Rather, he deftly offers it to readers, reminding them that these characters are doing something quite extraordinary for their age.

The only time the story falters is in some of its clunky dialogue. Also, Tom and Rick insist on puncturing almost every conversation with a thumbs-up sign.

A hundred or so pages of this near constant gesticulation is strange, especially when you try to remember the last time you saw two 18-year-olds accent their speech with an un-ironic thumbs-up.

Regardless, Rayes has succeeded at a difficult task. He’s managed to combine the mystery and suspense of a crime with the greater mystery of human nature viewed through a Catholic lens.

Even more difficult to achieve, it’s an enjoyable read and would be a good purchase for children and young teens.

Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.