The Cavanaugh Quest

by Thomas Gifford

This beautifully written "clue" mystery begins with a suicide in the lobby of a country club and then leaves bodies strewn everywhere. - The Mystery Lover's Companion, Art Bourgeau

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Thomas Eugene Gifford was a best-selling American author of thriller novels. He gained international fame with the suspense novel The Wind Chill Factor and later with the Vatican-based thriller The Assassini .

After graduating from Harvard he moved to the Twin Cities, MN where he and his wife, Kari Sandven, had two children (Thomas Eaton, Rachel Claire). Divorced in 1969, he went on to marry Camille D'Ambrose, a local actress. They moved to Los Angeles for a few years, then returned to Orono, MN. Novels continued to flow from his fountain pen through the years. Gifford eventually moved to New York--a city he loved whose people were of infinite importance to him.

In 1996, he turned his attention to renovating his childhood home in Dubuque, spending more time in Iowa than New York during his last years. He embraced the community of Dubuque, as they embraced their prodigal son. Featured in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Gifford recounted his every day occurrences, from learning the pleasure of getting a dog (Katie Maxwell, the Scottie) to peeves and pleasures of the town.

Diagnosed with terminal cancer in February, 2000, Gifford spent his remaining months reading, watching old movies, and chatting with friends and family. He passed away on an unseasonably warm Halloween, just as the ghosts and goblins started their tricks.

Gifford lived life large, had friends throughout the world, and lived life by his favorite credo--we're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time.

Gifford also published under the names Dana Clarins and Thomas Maxwell.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the years I have returned to this story of love and death, incest and suicide, murder, listening to the voice of a jaded and burned out Paul Cavanaugh as he tries to unravel a pretty seedy story of human shame and revenge. Cavanaugh doesn't think anyone can sink as low as he is, on the verge of a mid-life crisis, but he soon finds out that looks can be deceiving, and that everyone is lying to him, except maybe his father. Of course, this novel is about facades, and nobody is really who they appear to be. Cavanaugh falls in love, but he's a failed Lothario who's affection go unrequited by one of the most interesting characters you will ever meet in a crime novel who-dun-it, Kim Roderick, who is straight out of an Poe short-story. Cavanaugh is an unlikely investigator, but not an unlikeable one, who isn’t afraid to share his shortcomings, whatever they might be. He’s a bit of a moral relativist, but even he is shocked by the crime that has been committed, especially in the end when all is revealed. Some of the book is a nostalgic, but cynical, look at Minneapolis, Minnesota in the early seventies set against the Ford pardon of Nixon. Minneapolis looks good, but it’s really rotten to the core, a moral metaphor for the ethics of the local rich and famous, upstanding citizens who are a little less than upstanding. The story evokes an end-of-summer atmosphere of sweltering heat, thunderstorms, and North Shore memories that will make any Minnesota yearn for just one more weekend up-north, at the cabin. Cavanaugh years to feel young again, but the decay and moral collapse around him only heightens his sense of lost youth and passing time. Though he does solve the puzzle, it’s not because he is Poirot, but because he just sticks with it until the end, as would most people. Readers will be able to relate to a “normal” guy who is not a “gifted” super-sleuth. Gifford hides the solution to the puzzle in plain sight—he’s the real genius in this novel. It unfolds slowly and methodically, and you won’t feel cheated or bamboozled at the end because the solution was more than obvious from about chapter two on. The prose flows fluidly, and although Gifford might be a bit verbose, he does it to pad the readers thoughts with lots of red-herring almost as well as Agatha Christie herself. If you are looking for something different, this might be your ticket. I highly recommend it.

[Jens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Gifford's style, so this was as always an enjoyable read. I usually give four stars for books that I liked and finished, with the occasional five for stuff that really hits the mark.
I had to remove one star here, because the plot and the connections were a little bit too obvious. This made the novel seem to be a little bit drawn out. At one point I thought to myself that Jack Ritchie could have told us all that in 30 pages, without missing out on character description and setting.
Still a good read, though.

[roy douglas lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robuster


Not his best work by any means but still a very good book.
The story is as old as time itself. Greed , Murder ,lust and power all told from a vantage point of being in the inner circle.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: as the cover asks, Is a beautiful young woman the reason five old friends are marked for death?

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1977. A series of murders puts newspaperman Cavanaugh on the trail of the killer.

[Jeff Swystun · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second Gifford novel. I enjoyed The Wind Chill Factor written in the 70's when so many of the best thrillers were authored.
The Cavanaugh Quest was a bit clunkier, less exciting and took too a long time to resolve. The atmosphere and setting were extremely well done but the characters are a bit wooden and stereotypical. You can feel that Gifford really fancied himself as the main character, writer Paul Cavanaugh. It is a twisty tale and one that could entertain on a vacation. It does have a lot going on including questionable paternity, murder, decades old mysteries and some entertaining banter.

[Brett]

Mystery

[Sue Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved in the 1970s

[Tom Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was definitely a well written page turner. Not great literature, but since I live in the Twin Cities. I felt that I was kind of living the story.

[Madge · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5