Mausoleum: A Ben Abbott Mystery

by Justin Scott

Book Overview

When Newbury, Connecticut's three hundred year old village cemetery is invaded by a gaudy, half-million dollar mausoleum, Ben Abbott is not happy. Newcomer Brian Grosess tall, wide, mirror-polished eruption of eternal ego sticks out in the peaceful burying ground like a McMansion in an apple orchard. Bens fellow drinkers at the bar have nicknamed the monstrosity, McTomb. But no one expected to find Brians body locked in his mausoleum, fifty years...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590584686
• ISBN13: 9781590584682
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful characters in a small town

MAUSOLEUM (Private Invest-Ben Abbott-Connecticut-Cont) - VG Scott, Justin - 5th in series Poisoned Pen Press, 2007, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9781590584682 First Sentence: It was too gorgeous a summer day to kill someone. Ben Abbott is a realtor and part-time private investigator in a small town Connecticut town celebrating it's tercentennial. The town's cemetery has been invaded by a newcomer's mausoleum, which has come to be nicknamed "McTomb." During the celebration, the mausoleum's owner has been found locked inside; dead from three gunshots. Homeland Security Immigration Criminal Enforcement is hunting for an Ecuadorian immigrant, Charlie Cubrero, who was known to have bought a gun after the victim had refused to pay him for work done. Ben doesn't believe it and, working for the Village Cemetery Association, sets out to protect Charlie and find the true killer. Scott is an author whose work should be much wider known that it is. His characters are wonderful; everyone from proper Great-Aunt Connie, the family matriarch, to Ben's Chevalley cousins, who are not wealthy and certainly not proper. His sense of place is wonderful right from the first sentence. The puzzle is subtle and clever with an effective sub-story dealing with the effects of modern times on an historic small town. Scott has a wonderful voice that is wry, funny, and poignant. I've enjoyed every book I've read by Scott, and this is no exception.

superb investigative thriller

Newbury, Connecticut celebrates the tercentennial by wearing historical costumes. The villagers wander around the cemetery looking at stones of deceased residents. Suddenly classical music explodes from the recently constructed pretentious mausoleum "McTomb". Everyone rushes over to McTomb to see what is going on. When it is opened, the corpse of developer Brian Grose, who created the gaudy crypt, is found. The Newbury Cemetery Association hires realtor and private investigator Ben Abbott to investigate the murder of Grose. The police believe an Ecuadorian immigrant killed the obnoxious Grose, but Ben thinks otherwise as that seems too simple with so many other people having stronger motives to commit this particular homicide. As with the insightful MCMANSION, MAUSOLEUM plays out on two levels. First there is the obvious whodunit with Ben Abbott conduction a private investigation that not surprisingly goes contrary to the official police position. Supporting Ben's sleuthing is the theme of national (and even global) modernization and how it impacts on a small regional town. The story line is fast-paced as Ben conducts his inquiry. However, it is the various reactions by the townsfolk to changes in their quaint village that justifies reading this superb tale. Harriet Klausner