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The award-winning, bestselling author of The Back of the Turtle and The Inconvenient Indian masters the comic mystery novel in this series opener, starring ex-cop Thumps DreadfulWater Thumps DreadfulWater is a Cherokee ex-cop trying to make a living as a photographer in the small town of Chinook, somewhere in the northwestern United States. But he doesn't count on snapping shots of a dead body languishing in a newly completed luxury condo resort built by the local Indian band. It's a mystery that Thumps can't help getting involved in, especially when he realizes the number one suspect is Stick Merchant, anti-condo protester and wayward son of Claire Merchant, head of the tribal council and DreadfulWater's sometimes lover. Smart and savvy, blessed with a killer dry wit and a penchant for self-deprecating humour, DreadfulWater just can't manage to shed his California cop skin. Before long, he is deeply entangled in the mystery and has his work cut out for him. A novel that will appeal to mystery fans as well as Thomas King's loyal audience, DreadfulWater Shows Up is a catchy, clever read.… (more)
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Canadian setting. A luxury resort/casino and a series of suspicious deaths, a retired cop turned photographer, a melange of locals, outsiders arriving
Review of the 2017 reissue of "DreadfulWater Shows Up" (2002)
Thomas King has recently rebooted his DreadfulWater amateur detective series with "Cold Skies" (2018) and "A Matter of Malice" (2019). This provides for reissue editions of the original books in the series from 2002
The Thumps DreadfulWater series is solidly in the cozy mystery realm except in a setting of Indian Reserves with modern day issues such as casinos/indigenous rights added to the mix. King has a good ear for dialogue banter and Thumps makes for an engaging likeable lead character.
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This isn't advertised as a Large-Print edition, but the font has definitely been boosted to about 14-points in order to bulk up the reprint to a medium-doorstopper level of 448 pages, from the original 2002 edition's 240 pages. Some sort of publisher psychological persuasion to convince you that the book is more substantial than a light mystery?