Hal's Own Murder Case

Deb Ralston #5

by Lee Martin

On medical leave during the last month of her pregnancy, Deb, the mother of three adopted children, discovers that her teenage son, Hal, and his girfriend, Lorie, have hitchhiked to New Mexico for their spring break. Before Deb can locate the adventurers and bring them home, her husband, Harry, confined to the hospital with a broken leg, informs her that Hal is being held in a Las Vegas jail under suspicion of murder. Deb learns from Chief Alberto Salazar that a dazed Hal, with blood on his hands and clothes, was spotted wandering around the victim, who was in Lorie's sleeping bag. But Lorie has disappeared. And, the murder weapon is Harry's hunting knife. Deb joins forces with Salazar to find the real killer and the missing girl.

Genres: Mystery, Police, Fiction, Crime

253 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1988

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Pseudonym of Ann Wingate

Anne Wingate, born in 1943 as Martha Anne Guice, is a mystery writer currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Most of her mysteries are set somewhere within Texas. She is an adult convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and this sometimes shows in her works. She grew up in the Disciples of Christ Church.

Reviews

[Gayle]

Part of the Deb Ralston mystery series, the titular Hal is Deb's 16-year-old son, who sneaks off with his girlfriend Lorie, hitchhiking from their home in Fort Worth to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to see some stuff. Deb, 8-months-pregnant police officer, goes after them, since her husband is in the hospital. When she catches up with them, Hal's in jail for murder, Lorie is missing, and Deb is once again up to her ears in solving a murder.

I enjoy the Deb Ralston series (except for #9) and this one was typically great.

[Rebecca]

I enjoy the humor in this series. This one, I found myself wondering if the humor around her 16-yr-old son was amusing to me more because I DIDN'T have to deal with that situation, or if people WITH teenagers would find it more amusing because they could identify. There were a couple of expressions in here I assume are regional, because I've never heard them before: "brown study" and "some more kind of". And finally, I wish there'd been an epilog or something to tell us what happened to the baby. Oh--in 1989 a woman 38 weeks pregnant could still fly??!

[Cathy]

Love this series! This one with an 8-1/2 month pregnant Detective Deb Ralston was exceptionally enjoyable.

[Bianca]

Ich muss an dieser Stelle das Nachwort zitieren, da es genau das beschreibt, wie ich über dieses Buch denke. "Eine sympathische Heldin mit glaubwürdigem Familienleben, die Verbindung des eher klassischen Mordrätsels mit den oft brutalen Verbrechen einer morderner Großstadt und eine mehr als außerordentliche Portion Humor kennzeichnen die Heldin wie auch ihre Erzählweise."
Es wird sicher nicht das einzige Buch dieser Reihe bleiben, das ich lesen werde.

[Rhonda]

Good

Deb gets to go out of town to find her missing son Hal and his girl friend Lori who decided to hitchhike to New Mexico on a school vacation from Texas. Now Hal is in jail for murder and Lori is missing. in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Deb is also eight months pregnant.

[Lynn Calvin]

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