"What readers expect from Mystery Novels"

Former Miami homicide detective Nelson Andreu's debut novel, DEAD RED, delivers many of the elements readers come to expect of the traditional page-turner mystery- ruthless killers, an aura of corruption, a love story, diamond and drug traffickers, a murder made to look like a suicide, and foreign intrigue.

What is unique about this mystery novel is that Andreu strikes the right balance between the narration of the story and his behind-the-scenes commentary that are based on his own personal experiences as how murder investigations are conducted in the real world. In other words, forget about what you see on television where Colombo or Kojack are able to solve a crime within an hour. This simply does not happen with crime investigations.

The story unfolds when homicide detective Peter Copeland wakes up early one morning on a beach near his former girlfriend's home with a splitting headache and a bad taste in his mouth. Confused, while finding his way back and entering his friend's home, Peter is reminded by his friend Mary that he had left her party the previous evening with a very attractive redhead. However, neither Peter nor Mary seems to know who the redhead was, her name, and who invited her to the party.

Matters become very complicated when our principal protagonist discovers upon reading the morning newspaper a few days later that a woman was found washed up on a beach by a couple of kids. After conferring with the detective assigned to the case and some preliminary investigations on his own, Peter discovers that the woman was the same red head whom he had departed with the night of Mary's party.

The action builds up when an anguished Peter engages the service of one of his FBI buddies, Ralph Fernandez, to find out more about this mysterious redhead. No doubt, as he was the last one seen with the redhead, he would be a prime suspect in the murder.

After a one -week vacation, Peter's partner, Joe, returns and immediately is apprised of what has been happening since he was away, and some of the findings of Ralph Fernandez. Unfortunately, Joe meets an untimely death, that is supposedly meant to look like a suicide, and here is where the saga really takes off with one surprise after another, always keeping the reader off balance until the very end.

Although Andreu gets off to a rocky start within the first few pages, fortunately, however, he consciously or unconsciously realizes the effectiveness of the economical usage of words in order to deliver powerful images and messages, and here is where he is at his best.

If you are not too peeved when it comes to not being able to capture or kill all of the bad guys, the closing scenes will not be too disappointing. Perhaps, it was purposely crafted this way, to remind us that such is the case in the real world or it was because the author wanted to leave the door open to a sequel. I prefer the latter explanation and I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted May 23, 2004

Summary

Detective Peter Copeland wakes up on the beach one morning with a killer headache and no clue how he came to be there. Before long, he discovers that the exotic redheaded stranger he met at a party the night before is washed up on the beach, dead. What's this? Another detective mystery? But finally, here's one that departs from the mold. "Dead Red" is based on first-hand knowledge of solving mysterious deaths, thanks to author Nelson Andreu's twenty-two years in Miami's Homicide Unit. Readers who are curious about the workings behind crime investigations finally get what they want: insight on the inner workings of homicide(extracting answers from a reluctant witness, capturing an elusive fingerprint, distilling evidence from a mutilated victim) woven within an intriguing plot. Of course, Detective Copeland uncovers the answer--but that answer is what every cop dreads.