cover image The Last Man to Die: A Micah Dunn Mystery

The Last Man to Die: A Micah Dunn Mystery

M. K. Shuman. St. Martin's Press, $17.95 (214pp) ISBN 978-0-312-07858-4

One-armed New Orleans PI Micah Dunn investigates a 40-year-old murder and discovers some truths about war wounds in Shuman's ( Deep Kill ) pithy suspense tale. Vietnam vet Dunn is sightseeing at a Mississippi archaeological dig when the skeleton of a former New Orleans political candidate, last seen in 1949 during his campaign to clean up city government, is unearthed. Later Carol Busby, who found Max Chantry's bones, tells Dunn that the victim lost a leg in WW II. Both wonder why his body was interred in the Mississippi site where it was likely one day to be discovered. Then Madeline Gourrier, who has offered Carol a trumped-up genealogical assignment that would divert her attention from the Chantry corpse, is found with her throat slit. Dunn acts without a client to find out if the two deaths are connected. His spiritual affinity for Chantry adds an extra dimension to this intricately plotted tale. (Aug.)