cover image Dance of the Mongoose

Dance of the Mongoose

T. J. Phillips. Berkley Publishing Group, $19.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-425-14786-3

The stifling atmosphere of a closed island society is convincingly conveyed in this mystery debut. When hated Judge Hubert Jensen, running for governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, is found decapitated by a machete in Haven View, his St. Thomas house, suspects abound. The list is headed by his son Frank, about to be disinherited by his racist father for marrying Tangera, a beautiful and exotic black woman from Martinique. Joe Wilder, novelist and playwright and Frank's childhood friend, is summoned by Tangera, who is worried over the tensions at Haven View, where she and her husband now live with his alcoholic mother. Joe reintegrates himself into the local society, restoring ties with the last friend of this childhood triumvirate, Dennis Grey, now a successful black island politician engaged to the governor's daughter, and discovers that the judge had made a number of campaigning phone calls on the night of his death. Joe's probing stirs unease in some quarters and draws unwanted dangerous attentions as Phillips competently weaves a modern tale of greed, betrayal and thwarted love. (Aug.)