The Dirt-Brown Derby

by Ed Lynskey

PI Frank Johnson is hired by Mary Taliaferro, a wealthy aristocrat owning a horse estate near Middleburg, Virginia. Mary's teen-age daughter Emily has died in a riding tragedy. The local law... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594262322
• ISBN13: 9781594262326
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Mundania Press LLC
• Length: 172 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Reviewed by Michelle Boucher-Ladd

Set in rural Virginia, The Dirt-Brown Derby is an old-school style, murder, and detective story. The book is a kind of formula Dashiell Hammett meets Tom Wolf attitude with plenty of phallic fun. Ed Lynskey does an excellent job of creating a strong voice for the main character Franklin Johnson. Johnson, a rough around the edges private eye takes us for a ride in his "mutant Yugo" to the "dirty little town," of Kaiser Virginia, where he is employed by Mary Taliaferro to investigate the death of her daughter Emily. Mrs. Taliferro's ranch, Dakota Farms is home to some very interesting characters. There's the hired help; Ralph the gambling addict gardener, his wife Rachel the housekeeper, Stanley Pettigrew the drunken security guard, Pierre the studdly horse trainer, and suspect number one, a wily stallion named Hellbent. If these characters are not enough then there are the town folk, including Stanley's cousin Sheriff Pettigrew, Deputy Sheriff Thornbird, Adam a local drug dealer, The red-neck Kilby cousins, and Frank's old girlfriend Shelia, a hair dresser. Just as Frank begins to unravel some clues to the so-called riding accident that killed Emily, Pierre the trainer is murdered giving the mystery a new twist. Frank also bumbles onto a local girl being raped by the abhorrent Kilby Cousins. This instantly gives him two enemies to watch out for but also allies him with Deputy Thornbird. The plot only thickens when Frank gets beat-up, Ralph the gardener and Sheriff Pettigrew go missing, Frank becomes involved again with Shelia, gets beat-up, Mrs. Taliferro puts the moves on him, and he gets beat-up some more. All this action really does turn this novel into a derby. Ed Lynskey adds so many colorful bits of trivia and local fine points that his novel seems to take on a wonderfully descriptive voice of its own. His lovely writing gives a good balance to all of the booze, guns, and testosterone that make this a very funny book as well. The Dirt-Brown Derby is a well-written whirlwind of details. Aside from the many typographical mistakes that riddle the first few chapters of this novel, The Dirt-Brown Derby is a fun read. The only things it lacks are believable woman characters. Mrs. Taliferro is way too flamboyant and swoonish, Rachael is a bit underdeveloped as she spends most of the novel sleeping off prescription drugs, and frailty thy name is Shelia. However, if you are in the mood for a fast paced old fashion who-done-it, The Dirt-Brown Derby is the way to go.

A solid debut

"Now or never, it was my turn. I jacked upright, the 9 mil an extension of my arm. I rolled right, my natural side. Kilby was at the pew's end, three rows off to my front. The backlit stained glass windows imprinted his lank profile. It was a sweet shot. And I took it. My finger jerked the trigger." -- from The Dirt-Brown Derby Author Ed Lynskey and his series character, private eye Frank Johnson, have been around for a while, but you may not yet know their names because The Dirt-Brown Derby is Lynskey's debut novel. It is published by Mundania Press, a small publisher whose books I've been very impressed with -- see also Adrienne Jones's The Hoax and Jeff Strand's Andrew Mayhem series. At this writing, Lynskey has published over 40 short stories featuring Johnson, both in print and online. Of these, 15 were gathered in his first book, Out of Town for a Few Days, a short story collection currently available as an e-book for $2.99. It looks like Johnson was ready to stretch his legs for a longer case this time around, and Lynskey was happy to oblige. If Johnson had plans, spending the third week of April in Kaiser, Virginia, probably wasn't among them. At the beginning of The Dirt-Brown Derby, Johnson simply cannot resist the $200,000 paycheck (could you?) offered by Mrs. Mary Taliaferro for finding the murderer of her daughter Emily -- even though Johnson and the police agree on the culprit: Emily's horse, Hellbent. On the contrary, Mrs. Taliaferro states, "no true-breed horse will choose to crush a human," and the hunt is on for a human killer. Not soon enough to save the next victim a trip to the morgue, however, but if the mysterious death of Emily's father is anything to go on, at least this won't be a wild goose chase (not unlike when Nick Charles goes looking for a killer at the racetrack in Shadow of the Thin Man). Johnson, like most PIs, is a have-not thrust among the haves. In fact, he is only a private investigator because he had no other ambition, his on-and-off girlfriend Sheila saw it as steady work, and he passed the licensure exam. In other words, Johnson is pretty much just treading water like a lot of people. If he can solve the case (alongside Deputy Sheriff Thornbird), while slipping a little romance in for good measure, and maybe buy a new car with the proceeds, he'll be coming out ahead. Lynskey has created Johnson from classic stock. If it weren't so modern-looking, The Dirt-Brown Derby would feel just like a detective novel from the old days; Johnson even has an oddly stilted way of speaking that reminded me of the difficulty I first had reading the novels of Raymond Chandler and John D. MacDonald. But the prose is taut (read every word, or you'll get lost), the attitude is sharp (but not without compassion), and the characters are deeply drawn (and it's hard to know who to trust). If you've got a taste for an old-fashioned PI novel, consider picking up The Dirt-Brown Derby. It may not have the kind of lurid c

What a Mystery Read is all About!

Our main character,PI Frank Johnson, in this quick-witted fast paced mystery read is a no-nonsense, often coarse speaking man who says what he has to say and does what he has to do. Definitely the kind of man you may not want to bring home to meet the family but you would want on your side in any investigation. PI Johnson is somewhat down on his luck financially so when he is hired by Mary Taliaferro, a very wealthy owner of a horse estate who forks over a hefty sum for his services, he simply cannot walk away although a murder investigation is not something he particularly wants to get into. . Ms.Taliaferro's teenage daughter Emily has died, killed by her horse it is said. The police call it a horrible accident, Mary calls it murder and PI Johnson at first figures this will be a cut and dry case, but he is sadly mistaken. He quickly learns not all the characters in this town are what they appear to be, including Emily who PI Johnson learns was having an affair with her horse trainer who becomes a the prime suspect in PI Johnson's mind, that is until he turns up dead as well. All leads seem to come to a halt but Johnson will not give up even though the local Sheriff wants him out of town and he must deal with other local riff-raft who only complicate his life. The plot and heat of this murder gets hotter by the page and the reader wonders just what did happen to Emily. The plot is twisted, as only a good mystery read would be, leading you here there and everywhere but to the truth; I don't think you'll guess the ending of this one.Frank is determined to find out the answer and in doing so putting his own life in grave danger. Quite a roller coaster read and one that will keep you glued to the pages from beginning to end. Mr. Lynskey does a great job in defining his characters and bringing them to life. From PI Johnson to the local Sheriff and townspeople, right down to Mary, Emily's mother, they are brought alive in your minds eye; and along with his descriptive clarity of the local you are able to bring the entire story to life visually which is always a plus in any read. Our author certainly is proving to be one top-notch writer in the mystery realm and has kept this reviewer satisfied with each work I have reviewed. Another good job Mr. Lynskey!

Classic hard-boiled private eye fiction

Private investigator Frank Johnson doesn't want to get involved in a murder investigation, but when a grieving mother offers him two hundred thousand dollars, he decides he can't afford to walk away from the case. Teen Emily Taliaferro was killed, apparently by her horse. But there's more dirty in the rural Virginia town than just an accidental death. Punks lean against the walls and threaten strangers--including Frank, and Emily wasn't exactly a sweet and virginal girl. It doesn't take long to figure out she was having an affair with her horse trainer. Johnson's investigation lets him run into Sheila, the old girlfriend who helped him get started in the private eye business, but the local sheriff warns Johnson to get out of town. Still, Johnson doesn't give up easily, even when he's jumped and beaten. While Johnson can see that there's something very rotten going on in the town, figuring out what really happened to Emily is a lot tougher. And when his leading suspect joins Emily in death--this time obviously by murder, it seems that all of Johnson's leads have petered out. Of course, staying ahead of the local rapist-rednecks is another problem for Johnson. Author Ed Lynskey writes a classic hard-boiled mystery. His sleuth, Frank Johnson, is world-weary, occasionally introspective, and cursed with a flexible but hard-working set of ethics that won't let him take the easy way out. Lynskey matches rough characters with sparse language and a weary and gray environment that belies what should be bucolic horse pastures and country. THE DIRT-BROWN DERBY is one of those books that grabs you early. I couldn't put it down and read it in a single sitting. I'm happy to recommend this one.

Dustjacket blurbs

"A great protagonist, a suspenseful story, a wonderful sense of place. It's all here." -Steve Hamilton, USA Today bestselling author of PI Alex McNight mysteries "There's a new thoroughbred in the noir world of private investigators. A terrifically enjoyable read." -Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author of the Alexandra Cooper mysteries "The Dirt-Brown Derby is tough, snappy, and fascinating." -John Lutz, USA Today bestselling author of SWF Seeks Same and Fear the Night. "The Dirt-Brown Derby is a solid, fast-paced read." -Barbara D'Amato, author of Cat Marsala mysteries "The Dirt-Brown Derby is hard, fast, and unsentimental. PI Frank Johnson is a guy you want on your side." -Bill Crider, author of Sheriff Dan Rhodes mysteries "This noir thriller has fast-paced scenes and crackling dialogue." -Ed Dee author of Detective Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory mysteries "A fun read that informs as well as entertains." -Charlies Stella, author of Shakedown and Cheapskates "Ed Lynskey's distinctive voice brings the locale to life." -Charles Ardai, author of Little Girl Lost