3.75 stars

When there is an attempted murder (a hanging) of a “slow” boy (well, actually 21-years old) in a Mennonite community, a police officer from outside the community, Locklear, is brought in to help solve it. He has to work with Carter, a local police officer, who knows the people and might be able to bring some insight, though Locklear would prefer to be working on his own. The case seems to have something to do with a family feud that has gone back as far as the Civil War, 150 years previous.

It was good, though not edge-of-your-seat, through most of it, and I thought it picked up in the last 1/3 or so. With some Mennonite heritage in my family, I was interested in the setting. I’m not sure I completely “bought” Locklear’s character, though. He mostly seemed to be a tough guy with a soft side, but I’m not sure it quite worked for me; I think the soft seemed a bit too soft. Overall, though, I quite enjoyed the story. ( )

This was a solid read but didn't have enough tension for my liking. One thing that bothered me was that Locklear, the detective, was identified as a Native American but there was nothing that I could see in the story that made that background significant. Until the author told me that part way through the story, I didn't even realise it. Apart from that identification, little is revealed about Locklear's Native American background -- at least not as I remember it. I would have liked Locklear's character filled out a bit more and have the cultural background of Locklear influencing the perspective he brings to the work he does. Maybe I am missing something here -- not sure. I'd be interested in hearing from others who have read this book on their views of this aspect of the novel. I also thought making him an alcoholic was a bit clichéd. Overall, though, it was a pleasant read.

*I was given a free copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. ( )

This book was a tense thriller that left the reader waiting until the end for resolution of the various story lines. A Virginia homicide detective, from Richmond, is sent to investigate the attempted murder of a young man in a Mennonite community outside of Harrisonburg, VA. The reasons for the attempted murder date to just after the Civil War and involve family legacies, wealth, power, and a feud/pact (hence the title of the book). The characters are believable and typically act in ways that make sense. In this small town, you see the ties that bind a small town and all the interweaving of lives that occurs in an area where families have lived for generations. As the mystery deepens, and additional information is uncovered, further treachery is uncovered. There were some geographical problems with the book. The most noteworthy one is where one of the characters drives out of town and turns onto the Rockville Bridge, a railroad bridge crossing the Susquehanna River. The Rockville Bridge is outside Harrisburg, PA and the Susquehanna does not flow through Virginia. Harrisonburg, VA and Harrisburg, PA are almost 200 miles apart. However, those sorts of things would probably not be noticeable to folks who are not familiar with the region and don't take away from the story; they simply add an odd jarring note. All in all an enjoyable read that I would recommend to those who enjoy suspense thrillers. ( )

‘The Pact’ by Carol Coffey

I received ‘The Pact’ through Library Thing’s Early Reviewers program, and read it using iBooks on an iPad Mini.

This book is subtitled ‘A Detective Locklear mystery’, so we can assume there will be further stories using this character (and, hopefully, his sidekick Josefina Mendoza).

Locklear, who is a homicide detective, is sent to Harrisonburg to investigate an incident involving the near hanging of a 21 year old young man in nearby Dayton, a community of Mennonites.

It becomes clear that this closed community, suspicious of outsiders, is holding a number of secrets. I will be the first to admit I know next to nothing about Mennonites and their practices (apart from reading a Wikipedia article), but I understand they are close-knit and conscientious people. Like all Christian sects, individuals fall somewhere on a continuum from fundamentalist to liberal, but when these communities (or the Amish for example) are used in stories, authors resort to treating them as outsiders, emphasising their “other worldliness”, so choosing this type of community to place a story is risking the use of stereotypes. To her credit, the author here shows characters of varying attitude within the Mennonite community.

Much is made also, in the introductory chapters of the book, of Locklear’s native American ancestry, but curiously, this seems to have no impact on the story. Maybe the author will develop this further in later books in the series.

As could be expected, Locklear and Mendoza find that the incident they are investigating is just the latest manifestation of a far more disturbing and wide-ranging issue within this small community.

Without providing any spoilers, I have to say that the local police force had simply not been doing their job properly for many years, and the reader is left to wonder why, after all this time, that an outsider was finally called in to investigate.

I found ‘The Pact’ easy to read and to follow, and got through it fairly quickly. It was an enjoyable enough read, and I would be interested in reading a further story using the main characters, hopefully with a little more character development. ( )