Dead Man’s Hand by Eddie Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Murder mysteries have always been one of my favorite types of stories. I love trying to figure out who did the crime along with the main character as they search through clues and suspects and arrive at the answer. Some mysteries can end up being too obvious, and others tend to be too difficult to follow along with. Dead Man’s Hand by Eddie Jones falls somewhere in the middle. I found myself guessing at who the criminal might be, because it seemed somewhat obvious, but then there were a couple twists that were almost impossible to guess ahead of time. But, did I enjoy the book? Yeah, I did.
Dead Man’s Hand centers on Nick Caden and his family trip to an old Ghost Town in Colorado. They think they’re in for a lot of fun in the Old West, or at least the rest of the family does. Nick’s not so sure it’s going to be that great of a time — in fact, he’s expecting this to be one of the most boring weeks of his life. That’s until he comes across a dead body that vanishes. Is it just a trick like all the other stunts in town? Or is something more sinister going on? Nick’s on the case, and along the way, he’s going to try his best to steer clear of the ghosts of the Ghost Town.
Written entirely from Nick’s point of view, this book is a quick read, aimed at middle grade readers, but with surprisingly dark moments. The writing is very fast-paced, but sometimes the plot meanders a little bit as Nick investigates suspects and tries to figure out what’s going on. At some points I wanted to say, “But that would never happen in real life…” but eventually I decided to suspend reality and just go along with the story.
However, this book does one thing that really annoys me when an author is trying to drag out a mystery. At one point, a character sees something, but then refuses to tell Nick about it for nearly the whole book, and that one thing could have solved the case much sooner. Obviously, the drama is being played out for the mystery’s sake, but I wish Eddie Jones had found a more creative way around this particular plot point.
This book does contain some references to Christianity, including some Bible references that were actually kind of fascinating from the perspective of a “ghost hunter.” I had never thought about a couple of the passages that way before, and it was certainly intriguing, but a minor part of the story. However, there is one reference that I kept waiting to see where it would go, but never did go anywhere. At one point, a bandit in town starts yelling at the sheriff in Spanish, and quotes John 14:6 in Spanish. However, this is not translated for the reader who doesn’t know Spanish, and I thought it kind of odd for the bandit to yell at the sheriff, rather than something else like “You’ll never catch me,” etc. It just came across as somewhat odd, and perhaps disrespectful to the bandit, Spanish, and the verse.
In the end, this is a fun, easy read, and definitely not a waste of time. If you enjoy the Old West or murder mysteries for a middle grade audience, give this one a go!