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A Common Ordinary Murder
In the Chicago Tribune , Alan Cheuse described Donald Pfarrer’s novel The Fearless Man as “the gold standard for any other fiction to come out about the [Vietnam] war.” Now, in this new novel, Pfarrer presents another kind of war, the one in America’s streets, with the same kind of excitement, style, and power.
Steven McCord, a lieutenant of police in a fairly large midwestern city, has been coarsened by twenty years’ exposure to violence and cruelty. At forty-two, he has reached a crossroads in his career and in his life. He’s been entrusted with command of one of his city’s toughest districts, and as a senior lieutenant, he is poised for promotion to captain. But instead he’s studying law–because he wants out. His old mentor, Sergeant Hughes, fears that McCord will soon enter into that most contemptible of all legal specialties, criminal defense. McCord denies it, but in truth he doesn’t know exactly where he’s going to end up.
Then comes the “common ordinary murder” of an old eccentric–a resident of McCord’s district–and with it a personal crisis for McCord. Having given up on God long ago, he now seems to be losing faith in humanity as well. But something about the case draws him, against his will, deeper into the lives of the victim and his family, pulling McCord back to a place where he will know again the passion and pain of being alive.
Written in the intense, clear-cut style that is Donald Pfarrer’s trademark, A Common Ordinary Murder is a gripping story of crime and punishment; it is also the drama of one man’s test of love and strength.
Advance praise for A Common Ordinary Murder :
“A number of intriguing, complicated characters; a particularly heinous crime; solid police work; and a poignant sketch of a city in decline are good reasons to read this one . . . really an examination of faith, its loss, marriage, and love.”
– Booklist
Steven McCord, a lieutenant of police in a fairly large midwestern city, has been coarsened by twenty years’ exposure to violence and cruelty. At forty-two, he has reached a crossroads in his career and in his life. He’s been entrusted with command of one of his city’s toughest districts, and as a senior lieutenant, he is poised for promotion to captain. But instead he’s studying law–because he wants out. His old mentor, Sergeant Hughes, fears that McCord will soon enter into that most contemptible of all legal specialties, criminal defense. McCord denies it, but in truth he doesn’t know exactly where he’s going to end up.
Then comes the “common ordinary murder” of an old eccentric–a resident of McCord’s district–and with it a personal crisis for McCord. Having given up on God long ago, he now seems to be losing faith in humanity as well. But something about the case draws him, against his will, deeper into the lives of the victim and his family, pulling McCord back to a place where he will know again the passion and pain of being alive.
Written in the intense, clear-cut style that is Donald Pfarrer’s trademark, A Common Ordinary Murder is a gripping story of crime and punishment; it is also the drama of one man’s test of love and strength.
Advance praise for A Common Ordinary Murder :
“A number of intriguing, complicated characters; a particularly heinous crime; solid police work; and a poignant sketch of a city in decline are good reasons to read this one . . . really an examination of faith, its loss, marriage, and love.”
– Booklist
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 5, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 15, 2010
PROTAGONIST: Police lieutenant Steven McCord
SETTING: City in the midwestern US
RATING: 2.25
It's a sad day when a law enforcement official begins to view the killing of an individual as a "common ordinary murder" (COM). That's exactly how Lieutenant Steven McCord feels at the murder scene of an elderly man, Charles Carden. It isn't until his wife, Nora, humanizes the victim by mentioning that he was a very good man that McCord shows an interest in pursuing the case beyond the perfunctory. In reality, it's not his responsibility to do so; he is serving in an administrative function. Nonetheless, when he finds that there may have be more than one victim, he takes a much deeper interest in the case, although doing so is really not his job.
I expected A Common Ordinary Murder to be a police procedural; but as it turned out, the whole crime aspect of the book served mainly as a bookend to the narrative. Instead, it focused on the anxieties and tribulations of three characters: Steven, Nora and a nurse in whom Steven has become interested, Lindy Alden. As far as the crime, McCord tended to figure out what happened by visualizing scenarios in his mind, rarely relying on any hard evidence to solve the case.
Steven is in a deep state of unhappiness. After more than 20 years as a cop, he feels no sense of satisfaction about what he is doing. In fact, he doubts that he is making any kind of meaningful contribution to society. He decides to go to law school with his main goal being to make a lot of money so that he can lead a freer life. In fact, he appears to be leaning toward becoming a criminal defense attorney, a profession he has loudly derided in the past. At the same time, he is vaguely dissatisfied with his marriage, for reasons that were never clear to me. His wife, Nora, is intelligent and passionate; they seem to be in love and have two children of whom they are proud. He finds himself attracted to an ICU nurse; again, I could not see any attributes that Lindy possessed that would justify Steven giving up his marriage and life so that they could be together.
These three characters are in a deep state of angst throughout the book, which rapidly became tiring to read. Steven is conflicted about his career and what to do as far as Nora and Lindy are concerned. Nora agonizes about the state of the marriage, even before she knows that there may be another woman. Her worries really began to annoy me, and often verged on silliness. For example, one evening Steven is an hour late and she subsequently obsesses with this constantly, calling it "the lost hour", with her imagination running wild about where he was. And then there's Lindy, who's had her share of failed relationships in the past, who constantly analyzes herself.
A Common Ordinary Murder was most decidedly a book that I did not enjoy. I did not want to spend my time with characters that I didn't like while they wallowed in their angst. I found a lot of the dialogue to be artificial and stunted, most especially for the character of Lindy. And I definitely did not appreciate the amount of page time spent on Nora's religious reflections.
Those readers who don't mind a slower-paced book and who enjoy delving deep into human psychology may find the book more appealing than I did.
SETTING: City in the midwestern US
RATING: 2.25
It's a sad day when a law enforcement official begins to view the killing of an individual as a "common ordinary murder" (COM). That's exactly how Lieutenant Steven McCord feels at the murder scene of an elderly man, Charles Carden. It isn't until his wife, Nora, humanizes the victim by mentioning that he was a very good man that McCord shows an interest in pursuing the case beyond the perfunctory. In reality, it's not his responsibility to do so; he is serving in an administrative function. Nonetheless, when he finds that there may have be more than one victim, he takes a much deeper interest in the case, although doing so is really not his job.
I expected A Common Ordinary Murder to be a police procedural; but as it turned out, the whole crime aspect of the book served mainly as a bookend to the narrative. Instead, it focused on the anxieties and tribulations of three characters: Steven, Nora and a nurse in whom Steven has become interested, Lindy Alden. As far as the crime, McCord tended to figure out what happened by visualizing scenarios in his mind, rarely relying on any hard evidence to solve the case.
Steven is in a deep state of unhappiness. After more than 20 years as a cop, he feels no sense of satisfaction about what he is doing. In fact, he doubts that he is making any kind of meaningful contribution to society. He decides to go to law school with his main goal being to make a lot of money so that he can lead a freer life. In fact, he appears to be leaning toward becoming a criminal defense attorney, a profession he has loudly derided in the past. At the same time, he is vaguely dissatisfied with his marriage, for reasons that were never clear to me. His wife, Nora, is intelligent and passionate; they seem to be in love and have two children of whom they are proud. He finds himself attracted to an ICU nurse; again, I could not see any attributes that Lindy possessed that would justify Steven giving up his marriage and life so that they could be together.
These three characters are in a deep state of angst throughout the book, which rapidly became tiring to read. Steven is conflicted about his career and what to do as far as Nora and Lindy are concerned. Nora agonizes about the state of the marriage, even before she knows that there may be another woman. Her worries really began to annoy me, and often verged on silliness. For example, one evening Steven is an hour late and she subsequently obsesses with this constantly, calling it "the lost hour", with her imagination running wild about where he was. And then there's Lindy, who's had her share of failed relationships in the past, who constantly analyzes herself.
A Common Ordinary Murder was most decidedly a book that I did not enjoy. I did not want to spend my time with characters that I didn't like while they wallowed in their angst. I found a lot of the dialogue to be artificial and stunted, most especially for the character of Lindy. And I definitely did not appreciate the amount of page time spent on Nora's religious reflections.
Those readers who don't mind a slower-paced book and who enjoy delving deep into human psychology may find the book more appealing than I did.
August 9, 2015
I sometimes wonder: "Is it me or is it the book?" when I seem to take forever to read a book that should not take so long. This book was conflictedly predictable. A man in conflict with everything he knows and/or holds dear. Out of the three things ( career, religion, and family) that he had to reconcile with, in true man-fashion and with only a few nights of having to sleep alone he was allowed to have his cake and eat it, too. I was so hoping at least in this book we would find that "honorable man" that the crux of this book hinges on. The other two dear things seemed to reconcile themselves handily, too. Oh, well, onto the next book for me.
February 24, 2009
This could have been a pretty good book — involving a tough cop and family man undergoing a personal crisis while the brutal murder of an elderly man and his daughter by brainless thugs cooks along — but Pfarrer gets mired in a lot of William Kennedy wannabe introspective drivel.
Or as Joe Bob Briggs would say, there's a whole lot of plot that gets in the way of the story.
Or as Joe Bob Briggs would say, there's a whole lot of plot that gets in the way of the story.
September 25, 2014
Introspection and what seemed like repetitive dialogue overshadowed plot and action - at least for me - others may find that more compelling.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews