The Fitzgerald Ruse

Sam Blackman #2

by Mark de Castrique

Former Chief Warrant Office and amputee Sam Blackman and his partner, Nakayla Robertson, are opening a detective agency. They have high hopes that the thriving mountain region will provide a steady stream of cases. Their first client, a quirky elderly woman in a retirement community, makes a strange request. She wants Sam to right a wrong she committed over seventy years ago. Her victim: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her crime: stealing a manuscript when Fitzgerald resided in the stately Grove Park Inn. Sams task seems simple enough: retrieve the womans lockbox and deliver the manuscript to Fitzgeralds heirs.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery, Historical

382 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Mark de Castrique is an author, playwright, public speaker, and television producer living in Charlotte.

Through his company MARK et al., he writes, shoots, and edits projects for a variety of clients.

His work has earned CLIO, TELLY, and EMMY awards.

Mark has scripted stories aired on PBS and commercial network affiliates, as well as created video presentations for major corporations.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not as good as number 1, the second in the series is better than average. 7 of 10 stars

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Thomas Wolfe played a central role in the debut to Mark de Castrique’s excellent series featuring one-legged veteran Sam Blackman. This time, it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald, who spent time in Asheville, N.C., in 1935.

De Castrique definitely does not suffer a sophomore slump in
The Fitzgerald Ruse. Blackman and his partner Nakayla Robertson (in both life and work) are opening a detective agency. In their very first case, a 90-year-old woman asks Blackman to pick up a lockbox from her bank safety deposit box. Everything that can go wrong does, but I can’t reveal any more without ruining this fantastic book, one full of twists, surprises and shocks galore. Highly, highly recommended. (Newbies need not worry about being lost in this book. Although a sequel, it certainly stands alone.)

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good entry in the series. Very well narrated, easy to follow & full of interesting tidbits about Ashville, NC history & authors. The first book used Thomas Wolfe as the linchpin. This one uses F. Scott Fitzgerald. It doesn't go into detail about the author, but there are some interesting glimpses & they're well used within a current day mystery. Fun!

I recommend the series, but do read it in order. Each book is building on existing characters & contains spoilers to those before.

[LJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

First Sentence: The night sky around Asheville can play tricks on the eye.

Iraq vet, Sam Blackman, and his partner Nakayla Robertson have opened their PI business and have their first client. Elderly Ethel Barkley asks Sam to retrieve a box from her safe deposit box. Sam is disconcerted to see the box has an iron seal shaped as a swastika. Intending to deliver the box the next day, during the night, it is stolen from his office and the night guard murdered, with Ethel’s murder following soon. Were that not enough, Sam is informed he is the target of two former Blackwater employees want his fortune and his death.

Let’s start with the positives. The author does a very good job of providing enough backstory for new readers to understand the characters, and refresh the memories of those who read the previous book, without being tedious about it. His sense of place is very strong enabling the reader to experience the locations.

I always learn from reading de Castrique’s books. I had never heard of William Dudley Pelley and the Silver Legion of America and the history was fascinating.

Now the less than positive. I identified the bad guy almost from the beginning. The plot felt rather convoluted and as though the author was trying a bit too hard to make the character relevant to today’s world situation. I didn’t feel the characters connect with each other, or to me, the reader, as much as in the author’s other books, nor did the story flow as well. The humanity and quality I found in de Castrique’s undertaking series is missing.

I am hoping this book is an anomaly for the author and that he returns to form in the next.

THE FITZGERALD RUSE (PI-Sam Blackman-Asheville, NC-Cont) - Okay
de Castrique, Mark – 2nd in series
Poisoned Pen Press, 2009, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781590586297

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I picked up this book at the library I did so because I was intrigued by the title. I loved the Great Gatsby in high school (although a lot of it escapes me now. I really should go back and read it again) and thought the tie in would be fun. Plus, from the synopsis, the book seemed to be a modern take on the old film noir detective movies. I thought a good mystery with a bit of cheekiness might be fun. Unfortunately the "bad guy" is predictable and it wasn't as cheeky as I hoped it would be. There were a few nodes to the old style that if I wasn't looking for them probably would have passed by unnoticed. But, it was still fun. It could have picked up the pace a bit during exposition and slowed down the climax. I haven't read the book before and I still followed all the back story relatively well. I will keep an eye out for the next book, because I feel it has potential to be better. The characters feel like they are in mid develop and once they are fully fleshed out these books could be fun.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one took me a touch longer than the first one because it almost shifts fully into an action mystery instead of a whodunnit. It’s ok, the first is stronger, and some of the dialogue here is groan worthy too but ah well.

[Kellene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really do enjoy this series, although cozy it is not. I love the Asheville setting, being able to know exactly where things are going on. This story was rather convoluted, but a good mystery.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting sequel. Love the regional setting. Already downloaded the next book.

[Hpnyknits · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. It was obvious from day one his old buddy had ulterior motives. And at some point it got really confusing, as to who, if any, the good guys were.
Still good mystery.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: A Sam Blackman Mystery

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fitzgerald Ruse was interesting enough, it seemed very similar in structure to novels by Robert Galbraith about private detective Cormoran Strike, who surprisingly enough is also a former war veteran with one leg. The major difference I guess is that Cormoran works in London and is poor, Sam is rich and in North Carolina? I thought I would get the Cormoran feeling here, but Sam just didn't really do it for me. I also noted an undertone of the desired sarcasm so popular in Robert B. Parker's books, particularly when they are narrated by Joe Mantegna... sigh! OGM, who doesn't like to be read to by Joe Mantegna? I know I do, but I digress here. I did enjoy Mark de Castrique and William Dufris as the narrators. If you are listening, then these are important guys... they become the voice of the book.

So this was a good listen, the plot was interesting enough and literarily linked t0 F. Scot Fitzgerald, one of my favorite authors in high school. I liked the old lady and some of the characters. In the end, it was an ok read, not bad, but not great. I will try another of the Sam Blackman series to see if they can stand alone. It was a 3 star read with solid and strong plot lines, well-defined characters and a nice pace.

Happy Reading!

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in the Sam Blackman series. Private investigators, Sam Blackman (ex-Army CID investigator, who lost a foot in Iraq) and Nakayla Robertson (the sister of murdered Marine amputee, Takima) open a PI firm in Asheville, NC. The gimmick of solving cases that turn out to be connected to Asheville history is intriguing but seems to be limiting. Time will tell. Attractive characters help.

Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson are now partners in an Asheville, NC detective agency. The mystery links F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1935 stay in Asheville, an American Nazi group of the period and a current problem with ex-Blackwater agents stealing Iraqi treasures. The ensemble cast grows.

[Robert Mckay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Name-dropping isn't pleasant to watch, and in his first and second books in the Sam Blackman series, Mark de Castrique does it with a vengeance. In the first installment he drags in Thomas Wolfe (Look Homeward Angel, You Can't Go Home Again) and now in this book it's F. Scott Fitzgerald. And these aren't historical mysteries - they're contemporary with the time the author wrote them in. And reading a mystery set in Asheville, North Carolina doesn't incline one to expect, or want, geopolitical matters to intrude. Yet here, continuing what he started in the first installment, de Castrique drags in Blackwater, and Iraq, and looted treasures.

The writing is competent, but there's little of the actual hill country in which Asheville sits - it's the seat of Buncombe County, in the western part of the state. Nothing that happens here couldn't happen in Los Angeles or Spokane or Paterson or Cleveland. Nor do we get the speech of those who live in the area - even though certainly they wouldn't sound like uneducated hicks (at least most of them wouldn't), they wouldn't, as in the book, sound like people from Omaha or Minneapolis or Pierre.

It's disconcerting to see this book come out so poorly. One expects a poor showing from the first book in a series, because even an experienced author who's done great work in the past still has to learn the characters and the setting and how they interact. But the second book shouldn't be just as mediocre as the first. And more than that, Mark de Castrique is from western North Carolina, and ought to be able to show us the actual country and the actual people, instead of putting stock characters down in a city which we couldn't tell from any other if he didn't tell us what it is.

It's not that book is bad. It's perhaps even worse than bad - it's just middling.

[Neils Barringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Blackman and MeKayla are back for book #2! Granted I believe I may be what you would call a Asheville-ophile (Someone who is in love with Asheville??) so I ate up the setting. Even better I listened to this book with Ted in Asheville and we drove around and saw some of the places de Castrique mentions in the book (Our hotel room was the room right below where F Scott Fitzgerald stayed while he visited the Grove Park Inn-I argue our room was better because the 3rd floor had higher ceilings, maybe FSF was a short guy--pause now I am curious will google know this?Well Indeed, he was only 5'9"--short fellow, Where was I?
Ahh yes The Fitzgerald Ruse---
De Castrique is NOT afraid to. "Kill his darlings" as it were. Nothing like opening the book with a dead body to capture your interest and subsequently other murders in this tale. Sam and Mekayla find themselves on their first case helping an old lady who had a stolen manuscript of FSF and winds up killed. *Insert a gasp*
I have enjoyed this series so far so and I am warming up to Sam and Mekayla and want to see where their detective work takes them (And of course keep tabs on my favorite character-Ted (yes so minor of a character, but his name...its the best!!)
De Castrique does have a lot of characters and sometimes the plot seems so convuluded but at the end he does a nice job of wrapping things up.
Do your self a favor, go up to Grove Park and Read This Book! You will love it!

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that provides great historical information on the Asheville, NC area. That part was fascinating as I learned about a fascist group that was based there in F.Scott Fitgerald's time. The plot was actually 2 different plots that took place during 2 different time periods (then and now). Murders galore and intrigue abound. I only gave this book 3 stars because the hero (Sam Blackman), once again, did something less than reputable and the plot fusion (how the 2 stories merged) was more than a little disappointing. If you like mysteries with good historical information, this book is a good read. If you are more focused on plot and outcome, it might leave you feeling a little blah. The way I judge a great mystery is by whether I would read it again, to gather all the fine details. The answer to that question for this book is "no."

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's clear that someone wants something from Sam Blackman. Unfortunately, he doesn't know what. First a client's lockbox was stolen from his new office and a security guard killed. Then he was ambushed coming into his apartment by a man with a gun who wanted the account numbers. But--what about the account numbers? Did this have something to do with a failed murder attempt before Sam returned from duty in Iraq, leaving his left leg behind him? Or does it relate to his client, who had a strange tale of a lost Fitzgerald manuscript and a box with a swastika on it? Sam and his partner in business and life Nikayla have to find out before they come for Sam again.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've listened to 2 of the Sam Blackman Mysteries so far and it isn't really getting better for me. I suppose they just aren't my style. I listen to audiobooks as I am in the car A LOT, so it could potentially be the narrator that I don't like. Just pretty lame. The voices are just awful and it sounds like he is trying too hard. The premise of the story is great! Perhaps if I read them instead of listen to them I may like it better. The humor might actually sound like humor if I read it instead of listen to it (Sam Blackman has some decent "dad jokes").

[Kitty Galore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally I'm not a fan of mystery novels, but I am a fan of Asheville which is what drew me into the book. The history snippets were particularly interesting and has led me to look into some of the factoids interspersed throughout the story. Although I only rated this book as average, I have made a decision to begin with the first book in the series dealing with Asheville's acclaimed author, Thomas Wolfe, and continue the remaining six novels, not all dealing with Asheville but all dealing with this area of Western NC. The Fitzgerald Ruse is N. 2 in the series.

[Marilyn Pronovost · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was entertaining but de Castrique's first book in this series was much more interesting, a better story. The characters are interesting but the plot seemed convoluted and strained, he is making too many connections that just don't seem to fit.

Some of the material was interesting especially about the Silver Legion, never heard of it.

The climax and resolution is forced. Yet despite all that, the author does make for a fun read.

[Gordon Popular · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much, it is not in the league of Rex Stout but is a good read. de Castrique brings up the history of Asheville and some of the historic characters who lived there at times. Sam Blackman is getting his agency up and running so has to take cases that aren't so exciting. But this one does get interesting with some twists and people from Sam's military past. For anyone planning on visiting Asheville bring along one of de Castrique's book. Highly recommended.

[Brace1737 · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a lot going on here in the second Sam Blackman novel. His fist case as a private eye mirrors his last case in Iraq. Then you have references to a group of Nazi followers and the summers that F. Scott Fitzgerald spent in North Carolina. Too many ingredients spoil the stew and force the author to serve the reader an ending that does not quite suit my taste.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read and I didn’t figure out “who dunnit” until the main character did. That’s rare! As before, good character development. I wasn’t as enthralled with the second installment because I wasn’t as invested in the historical background. Another reviewer wrote that he always learns from DeCastrique’s books and that’s a big factor in my enjoyment of and appreciation for his writing.

[Wanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A history lesson disguised as a thriller.

I was never fond of history classes, but I love the idea that I have learned more history from novels than from any classroom teacher.

We live close to Asheville but have yet to explore it. Now I have some specific destinations to check out.

[Eva Kaminski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable quick read. Interesting plot with engaging mysteries and character backgrounds, and just enough setting and personal details to make it meaningful without unnecessarily slowing down closure.

[LDean · Rating 4 out of 5]

iPad
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[Amy Gideon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was alright...I liked the first book better. I didn't care for the military angle. I like the characters though.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

2+

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful blend of home town city, intrigue, history and action and the end was not what I was suspecting. Excellent book and exciting series

[Sylvia Hester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocked is not the word for this one. But yes, I was indeed shocked at the outcome.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is convoluted but local color is nice. I like the Western North Carolina history aspects.