Death Spiral - An Avalon Mystery

by Clyde Linsley

Debby Liston's life has been threatened—more than once. Being one half of the most promising pair of ice skating champions makes her the envy of many and the list of suspects long. Hired by her mother, Irene, Leo McFarlin is to look into the threats and protect Debby. But when the rink manager turns up dead, Debby takes a nasty fall after someone tampers with her skates, and someone takes shots at Leo's car, things begin to heat up. Startling details of Irene's former skating career, Debby's former partners and the grittier side of skating are uncovered in this fascinating tale of deception, determination, greed and murder.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 2000

Reviews

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this with low expectations and it was much better than I hoped. It wasn't brilliant but it was entertaining. (Just don't judge the dialogue. Oy!)

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Death Spiral by Clyde Linsley is set in early-21st-century Washington D.C. A 'Death Spiral' is a required move in pair competition figure skating. Private investigator Leo McFarlin is asked to protect figure skater Debbie Liston, who has received threatening mail. Debbie is a talented figure skater who competes in pair events, as did her mother and father. At first McFarlin does not believe there is a case, but soon there are murders, shootings and attacks for him to investigate. He must dig into the past to solve the case.

McFarlin's personality put me off: a smart-aleck cynic on his 3rd career. The plot seems like a straightforward puzzle at first, however from the conclusion, the entire premise seems weak. I don't plan to read this author again.

[Ashley]

This book was short and sweet. At a little over 200 hundred pages it only took me about an hour and half to read. Perfect bedtime story! Although I normally don't like books that are written in the first person this was a fairly decent book. In most murder/private eye mystery books I always tend to guess who the bad guy is, sometimes I'm right sometimes I'm wrong, but I had no idea who it was in this one! The end definitely surprised me! If anyone is looking for a quick good read then I definitely recommend this book to you!

[Tomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read - decent mystery. I never figured out who the bad guy was! I'll be looking for more books by Linsley (who is from Little Rock!).