A Catskills community is rocked by a dog who digs up a famous stolen diamond and Sicilians who have sworn a vendetta for a World War II crime. Sicily, World War II. The Allied landing has begun. Will the Italians fight with the Germans, or run? The answer leads a German officer to a murderous act and the theft of a Sicilian family heirloom. Ulster County, New York, the present. The Catskills community is the perfect, peaceful place for a widowed mother to raise her son, work in her brother's pub, and date the chief of police. Young Danny and his ace dog love to fish and make two friends, both old men, who share their stream with him. Nature's generosity and Danny's skill is such that fish becomes a regular menu item at the pub. All goes swimmingly until one day, the dog digs up a pouch containing the long missing Isabela Pendant. More shocking, someone soon shoots the senior gentleman, the one who is married to toothsome Cynthia. He falls into the stream, but a young Protestant priest fishes out the dying man and hears his last confession. Chief McAvoy would like to know what it was, but Fr. John's lips are sealed. In Greene County, just to the north, a luxurious retirement home houses Don Vittorio Gianelli, brother of the long dead Contessa whose dazzling diamond has now reappeared. Chief McAvoy finds this coincidence hard to swallow. But no matter how he prods, no information falls his way. In the end, like a fisherman, he relies upon guile to reel in his killer...

This atmospheric and unusually plotted novel balancing hardboiled and softer elements adds up to a knockout debut for Bill Stackhouse.

Reviews

I find it difficult to keep the facts clear in my mind after reading fictionalized New York State history, so I rarely pick any up. The one exception I make is mystery stories set in New York. Thank goodness for that or I would have missed this wonderful new addition to the genre by Bill Stackhouse.

"Stream of Death", his first novel, is set in the heart of the Catskills, in Peekamoose Heights, on the legendary trout waters of the Esopus. I think this imaginary town is a gentrified version of Phoenicia, but wherever it is, I want to live there. It is peopled with bright, articulate and generous folks whose children are well-mannered and whose pets are cute. The eccentrics are lovable and their idiosyncrasies are endearing, and everyone coexists peacefully - or so it seems at first. Trust this idyllic facade at your peril, for beneath it are fly-fishing good guys and bad guys locked in a life-or-death struggle of conspiracy and deception. And, with a "retired" Mafia don as the master puppeteer, you can be sure that death lurks along the sparkling waters.

The intricate plot winds around the famed Isabela Pendant, a rose colored jewel stolen in Sicily during World War II and finally uncovered on the banks of a local fishing hole. Peekamoose Heights Police Chief Ed McAvoy, whose gunshot wound forced an early retirement from the Detroit Homicide Squad, settles in this sleepy village never suspecting that all of his detective skills would be needed to unravel the mystery and save the lives of the people he has grown to love.

The finely drawn cast of con men, hit men and locals will keep you guessing through the myriad plot twists and murders to a satisfying resolution. And fear not, the author leaves enough people alive to guarantee a sequel, one I eagerly await.

— Richard Frisbie NYGenWeb Greene &

Ulster County Coordinator dba Hope Farm Press & Bookshop

In 1943 Sicily, Nazi Colonel Meitner knows the Italian army will collapse and the allies will easily defeat the few German units. When the battle is engaged, the action goes as expected by Meitner. However, before retreating from the island, he pays his respects to La Contessa Sophia Campi, a person he believes is part of the resistance. Without a word he kills Sophia and takes her diamond pendant jewel. Not long afterward, Sophia’s brother Vittoria Gianelli arrives to learn that his beloved sibling was executed and vows a vendetta.

Over five decades later, Ulster County, New York police chief Ed McAvoy enjoys his life in the Catskills. However, his idyllic lifestyle takes a back seat starting with the discovery of a dog digging up a diamond pendant that Mafia Don Vittoria reads about in the Ashokan Register. The Don knows that his vendetta will finally begin. For Ed, the pendant leads to the difficult investigation of a murder of a senior citizen and the demands of the Don to return what is a family heirloom.

STREAM OF DEATH is an enjoyable regional mystery that links events over five decades apart. The well-written story line works because the minor subplots bring depth to the cast, making the key players seem genuine. In his debut novel, Bill Stackhouse writes like an old pro stacking his chances for success with this phenomenal police procedural that combines a hard-boiled investigation with that of a regional cozy.

Harriet Klausner, Copyright ? 1996 - 2000, BookBrowser.

Bill Stackhouse's Stream of Death is an excellent and original debut novel which blends the hard-boiled and softer elements of the crime fiction genre.

This nifty hardcover introduces Chief Ed McAvoy, head of the police in a Catskills community in New York. While out fly-fishing McAvoy discovers a corpse and nearby, a Sicilian family heirloom that was stolen during WWII. To complicate matters, a Mafia Don, whose sister owned the heirloom, wants the heirloom back and McAvoy is left to unravel the mess.

Although this is Stackhouse's debut he's no novice. He has written plays and scripts including training films for NASA. The author knows his history, his upstate New York, and his pubs. The fishing scenes are so authentic readers may be unable to resist the urge to pack sunscreen.

Stackhouse credits Nero Wolfe creator, Rex Stout-America's Conan Doyle-as being one of his early influences. But readers expecting a complete re-hash of Stout's material may be disappointed. This author has developed his own voice and setting, yet like Stout he's detailed where it counts, he's well paced, and his characters are round not flat. You know Stackhouse has been there because his words take you there.

Stream of Death upholds Poisoned Pen's tradition of "Publishing Excellence in Mystery." The field of crime literature is already indebted to Bill Stackhouse for introducing Chief Ed McAvoy.

—Andrew McAleer is the editor of Crimestalker Casebook