Rural Sprawl A. R. Grobbo Double Dragon Publishing ISBN: 1-55404-372-7 Fiction, Mystery Reviewed by Eugen M. Bacon

A crime scene snapshot of a cornfield in the cover graphics prepares one for Constable Brian Stoker's gruesome find on a less than normal routine patrol. The near comedy of his reaction, mis-reaction and sentiment that June night holds promise to the reader of instant enjoyment in a well-written novel that soundly carries suspense. Gloria Trevisi is a well-drawn character, an editor of a mid-western Ontario weekly. She is tossed from small town news, prize pigs or strange potatoes, to a farm place fatality. As if a body squashed by a bulldozer in a simple farmland is not enough tabloid news for the district weekly, the story develops into a full blown whodunit. Reading Rural Sprawl, I could not help but feel drawn to the Canadian-Italian reporter who baffles village folk (keen to fix or speculate) with the status of her marriage to concert violinist Tony. But it is her observations, persistence and gradual findings in the McKee murder that become cause enough for a killer's worry. A. R. Grobbo's writing is light, tight and weaved with ample humor hopefully to carry to the next Gloria Trevisi mystery.

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