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Mesquite Smoke-Dance, Andrew Grant
Hazard Press
Reviewed by James O'Sullivan (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Stop me if you've heard this one before. A middle-aged detective with personal problems is chasing down a sadistic serial killer. He's just beaten his alcohol addiction, but he is yet to get over the deaths of his wife and his old partner. Enter a good-looking blonde who says she's his new partner. There is tension at first.

Complicating matters is our detective's boss, an arrogant, ignorant man who does nothing but impede the investigation. After one or two false leads the detective finds himself hot on the trail of said sadistic killer. And he's a step closer to solving his personal problems.

You probably would have stopped me after the first sentence. This novel sticks to the crime thriller blueprint like dog turd to a shoe. From the pornographic violence to the "ending that will leave you stunned" (it didn't) there is not one thing here that is original. Even the self-lauded twists and turns are derivative and reasonably well sign-posted.

Mesquite Smoke-Dance is written by a New Zealander but the action takes place in southern USA. If it had been set in New Zealand then perhaps that would have been the only thing original about it. But I get the impression the publisher wants this book to succeed on the international market. However, I can't see this novel sticking out from the massive crop of crime thrillers worldwide.