Superior Death

Lake Superior Mysteries #1

by Matthew Williams

Small-town reporter Vince Marshall faces looming deadlines, an over-the-edge boss, a wife he suspects is cheating, and the challenge of balancing his career while raising a toddler. The last thing he needs is for his mother to become the suspect in a mysterious woman's death - a story he's covering for the local newspaper.

Vince searches for answers and runs up against the town's irascible police chief, an untouchable influential family, and a rogue detective - who are all trying to kill the story for their own reasons. Even more mystifying is his usually opinionated mother's infuriating silence. The harder he tries to uncover the truth, the more he realizes just how deep the levels of secrecy in this small Lake Superior town really go. With each exposed lie, Vince risks losing everything: his family, friends, and reputation.

As Apostle Bay - which is already divided by contentious union negotiations and teenage drug use - struggles to survive the scandal, Vince must decide just how far he's willing to go to delve into a world of deception, deceit, and self-discovery.

Genres: Mystery

Hardcover

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Matthew^^^^Williams

Matthew Williams lives in Marquette, Michigan. He was an award-winning newspaper reporter, columnist, and author of the popular "Tot Tales," a weekly column about fatherhood. His fiction and nonfiction writing regularly appears in regional and national publications.

Reviews

[Ken Bour · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this relatively short novel, my first by this author. The story surrounds a news reporter in a small town and his intense probing of several seemingly unrelated events which terminates in a startling discovery that I did not see coming until the author unveiled it. "Superior Death" was a nice break from the detective thrillers that make up the bulk of my reading list although it contained its share of crime, sleuthing, and intriguing plot twists. This book was effortless to read (a good thing) and the characters as well as the dialogue were quite believable. This novel would be a terrific beach or summer poolside companion...

[Aliyah Basuil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many characters to keep track of, and the main character was annoying

[Katharine Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superior read

Story moved quickly and could identify with the characters. A fast read. Good description of northern Michigan and lake superior.

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and easy read. Being a "Yooper" it was fun to read a book written by someone from the U.P about the U.P of Michigan. Read it in one day. Looking forward to the next two in the series

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Ottawa March 2017

A fast easy, who done it, read. A little bit far fetched, but found it fast and engaging.

Small-town reporter Vince Marshall faces looming deadlines, an over-the-edge boss, a wife he suspects is cheating, and the challenge of balancing his career while raising a toddler. He is covering the story of a woman who has just committed suicide by jumping off the Cliff. (along Lake Superior). The case is being covered by his best friend, Gord, and while he investigates the tent that the woman had been living in, and when Gord is not watching, he sees the journal, in which the victim had written both his mother's name, and the old rich matriarch of the cliffs, Barronness ______, both of whose names were circled and underlined in red ink. Added to this, the Chief of Police takes it upon himself to lead the investigation (also Vince's godfather), and only wants Vince to look after his mother, who had been there and witnessed (supposedly had actually tried to help the woman before she had jumped off the cliff.

Vince searches for answers and runs up against the town's irascible police chief, an untouchable influential family, and a rogue detective - who are all trying to kill the story for their own reasons. Even more mystifying is his usually opinionated mother's infuriating silence. The harder he tries to uncover the truth, the more he realizes that there are secrets burried in this small Lake Superior town.

On top of this, his wife Deb, a teacher at the local High School is actively involved with union negotiations, and sits along with fellow teacher, Ken on the Union Committee. The school has also recently been plagued by a slew of bright teenagers who have been caught in possession of drugs - each of whom have denied any knowledge of the drugs. As the union negotiations continue into the wee hours of many nights, Vince begins to suspect that Deb is having an affair with Ken. With his continuous hours investigating different stories, he too is spending less time at home and frequently forgets that he is supposed to be looking after his toddler, Glory - and pawns her off on his mother, and strangers he meets during his own investigations, thus putting greater strain on his marriage.

He continues to investigate, and learns that over 30 years ago the younger sister of the woman who fell off the cliff had an affair with the matriarch's son, got pregnant. They were both in an accident, but not clear what had happened to the baby. At the end of the story he finally discovers the secret ... that his late father, Doc Marshall had arrived at the scene of the 2 deaths and immediately performed a _______ and the baby survived. Doc brought the baby home ... ergo: Vince.

Meanwhile, he also uncovers the truth about the teens / drugs. The owner of the local car dealership, struggling and in debt goes into business with hoodlums and starts selling drugs. His son, realizing his father is now destitute and can no longer afford to send him to college tries to be the Valedictorian (thus increasing his chances for a good scholarship), and therefore starts to plant drugs on the other teens who are in current competition with him, so that they get a police record and destroy their chances of being the valedictorian. Eventually he also sees this as a way to help his dad.

With each exposed lie, Vince risks losing everything: his family, friends, and reputation.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vince Marshall is a reporter in a city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I gathered that the city, Apostle Bay, is based on Marquette, because Marquette is the largest city in the U.P. and the only one with ore docks, which are noted in the story. Other features of the city also point to Marquette. There are differences, too.

Vince is called to a scene where a woman has fallen - or been pushed, or threw herself in - off a steep cliff onto the rocks below. Vince was called by his godfather, the police chief, because Vince's mother had seen the incident and was shaken by it.

She won't talk about it, however, regardless of how often Vince asks her. He feels she is being eaten away by it and would benefit from talking, but also, he's a reporter and wants the full story.

He is driven by this personal connection to find the story. It takes a lot of digging and interviewing before he pieces it together, and it's an odd one.

I didn't come to like Vince much, but I liked putting together bits of the Upper Peninsula as presented in the book and as I remember it (I grew up there).

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very dialogue-heavy, and it gets a bit boring at times because of it. The chapters are also quite short, more like scenes than chapters, which may be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective.

It also takes place in a made-up town in the Upper Peninsula, but this town is quite built-up. The population of this fake town would make it the second most populous city in the entire UP. While I do understand not wanting to name a specific city, plopping what would be a major metropolis in a remote area seems odd.

Overall, though, I did enjoy it. I loved that the author included a toddler who was not just an after-thought, and the trials of balancing a 24/7-style job with a family and young child resonate. Vince may be a reporter, but anyone who works in tech and has tried this will also see themselves reflected in that particular arc.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read with short chapters and large print. The plot is decent -- I didn't figure things out more than a few pages in advance -- and it's fun to recognize nearly every specific setting. I can understand why this wasn't a huge hit elsewhere, but I also think Marquette locals must get a kick out of the places described.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story

Being a Michigan native, I was drawn to this story by the setting. I love trying to figure out the plot lines, and must say, this certainly had me stumped! Looking forward to the next in the series

[Brian O'Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many people and too much history, but a good ending.

[Kensly Jolyn Lawson Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t like it

[Lydia Sadler]

I though this book would be something different until I got into it and realized, yes this is a mystery. Imagine searching for the truth to a story and finding out there is more than you expected.

[Kathy Schouten · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cozy mystery set in a small town on Lake Superior, likable characters - a quick read.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, light weight, witty enough, decent mystery.-- so no less than 3 stars.

[Andrew Coiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good finish.

Nice story with a surprise ending. Worth considering as light, summer reading. Lots of twists and turns for the reader.

[Bill Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced story and enjoyable read

I gave Superior a 4 rating because of story had no side stories. It was a quick mystery that I had figured out early. When Vince was told by the chief to stop pursuing his story, it became pretty clear the chief was kidding something from Vince.

This was a quick read I was able to get through in one day.

While it does not have a great deal of suspense it does keep you involved with Vince, as he refuses to give up his story.

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot. It was a quick read with a number of surprising plot twists, even though there were times when I wanted to take the protagonist by the shoulders and give him a good shaking for being such a bonehead. For that matter, I was similarly exasperated by his less than understanding wife--although admittedly she had quite a lot to put up with.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved. It

Enough action to keep my interest without being overly complicated. I appreciate the clean language, happily married couple with a child, no sex scenes, & believable characters. It was a little predictable in a few places, but overall, a good read.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so much to my taste. Read more like a screenplay than a book, with so much focus on the dialog, rather than description. Setting played virtually no part in the story. May give one more a try.

[Al Stoess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply written Interesting. Not complex. Worth reading.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun mystery set in the Upper Peninsula.

[Angie Spoto]

Easy reading

Book held your interest interest and you couldn't wait to find out more. Kept you in suspense and guessing where it would take you.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read - good mystery

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked it

[Rctgale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This whodunit kept me guessing. Surprising twist at the end.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: A Lake Superior Mystery
Category: Mystery