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Speaking in Code

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Tyler Cunningham, the best (and only) consulting detective in the Adirondacks leaves the cold behind him after a particularly tough case to explore the Southwest ... but as always seems to happen with Tyler, trouble finds him, even on vacation.

69 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 21, 2015

7 people are currently reading
8 people want to read

About the author

Jamie Sheffield

21 books43 followers
NEWS: Jamie won the 2014 Adirondack Literary Award for Best Novel of 2013 with "Here Be Monsters"!

Jamie Sheffield lives with his wife, son, two dogs, and seven tortoises in a pretty spot in the woods of New Hampshire, writing about the people and places and things that poke him in the brain. When he's not writing, he's probably camping or exploring wild places all over the Northeast.

Besides writing, Jamie loves cooking and reading and dogs and numerous outdoor pursuits that his friends and family classify variously as dangerous, foolish, nerdy, stupid, and likely to get the attention of Homeland Security.

He worked as a Special Education teacher in the Lake Placid Central School District for nearly 20 years before deciding to try his hand at writing just about full-time (he still works with students some of the time).

Here Be Monsters was his debut novel, in 2013. In the years since this best-selling and award-winning novel was published, he's published four more books in that series as well as numerous other books in print and ebook formats.

Most recently, Jamie published a pair of collections of short fiction and, in July of 2021, his first children's book, Chili, the Grumpy Tortoise.

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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
127 reviews
December 18, 2017
Tyler feels at last.

This series about an extremely intelligent and autistic orphan detective of 9/11 has been a joyous, if sometimes arcane ride for math/logic lovers who focus on their mysteries without the necessary adornment of "relationships." The deepest relationship so far for Tyler in the entire series has been with his shelter-adopted dog and herein it comes to a conclusion. In fact, this is more his mystery to solve than the murder needing resolution.

Tyler is out of place in the southwest, opposite in almost every way to Lake Saranac, New York, and apposite in almost every way to the needs of the emotionality of the theme of losing someone Tyler really loves and facing it with the depth of support provided by the kindest of strangers - the Navajo. We have the opportunity to feel one of our most human pains through the lens of autism and it hurts even more for Tyler's inability to express or comprehend what is happening in his heart. Sheffield expressed it tautly, thoughtfully and thoroughly without having Tyler's personal Asperger's contorted understanding/misunderstanding of someone previously unable to analyze/formulate/mathematically calculate a feeling, let alone such massive ones as love, loss, friendship, care, social notes for kindness.

Sheffield has a great future writing and much to say as he learns from his students. His grammatical/spelling errors are seldom and/or small, but irritate me because he is a teacher. However, because he is, on the whole, an excellent teacher, I am willing to chalk those up as computer over-rides as I often encounter them myself after they have conspired to make me look and sound sillier than I usually am. Good on, Professor, good on.
Profile Image for Mr Duck.
5 reviews
January 4, 2024
So many little ways to communicate without anyone knowing. A little dot here,a little dot there, couple of ducks thrown in. Crazy but it worked....for nearly 3 years!
Profile Image for Michael Martin.
Author 3 books6 followers
January 14, 2016
I like (No, I love) this TC Short

Jamie's writing is so engaging and his tales of Tyler Cunningham are the best. Here, I learned, as a fellow Adirondacker, that it isn't just the setting that captivates me so (though, admittedly that and knowing his lovely wife are what first drew me in to my first Smart Pig read). It is, after all, good writing, engaging characters and interesting story lines that keeps me coming back. And anxiously waiting for the next installment.

Without giving anything away, Jamie has capture another touching moment of the promises we make when we befriend our dogs. His kind and gentle soul truly shines through in his writing.

(And he is champion of the art of parenthetical exposition)
2 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2015
Tyler learns

As always Jamie Sheffield weaves an interesting tale. The main character, Tyler, learns a bit of the code we humans share and learns more about himself in the process. I would recommend you read the other books first as this is not a stand alone story in my opinion.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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