The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 1 April 2014
by Camille Minichino
Boric acid is a compound of the element boron, with hydrogen and oxygen. It is useful as an insecticide, but also in the operation of nuclear power plants. Boric acid is what is known as a neutron poison, a material with a high neutron cross section. It absorbs neutrons and slows down a nuclear fission reaction. So, it is used to control a reactor core and in fuel waste storage ponds to keep spent fuel from heating up and starting a reaction of its own. So, all in all, a pretty handy compound. Boron, of course, is the fifth element in the Periodic Table, and thus the theme of this fifth book in Camille Minichino's murder mysteries.
Our heroine, Gloria Lamerino, is just returned from California and the previous murder mystery. The book wastes no time in getting her involved in the next mystery when, no more than ten pages in, the son of her best friend is arrested in connection with the murder of a young public relations employee of a nearby nuclear laboratory. Seemingly within minutes, Gloria is on to the boron connection in this mystery. Even though she and her beau, Detective Matt Gennaro, due to their connection to the prime suspect, are officially forbidden to investigate this murder, Gloria goes ahead on her own to track down the true story of this crime. She glides along, experiencing no conflict with the official investigation, an ease which strains credibility. Lamerino finds several angles on the murder, all the while holding a strong bias in favor of the prime suspect. As in earlier instalments of her series, Minichino's story begs the question of what might happen to an amateur sleuth who decides to investigate a murder on his or her own. Obstruction of justice? How can an investigation like this not encounter difficulty? Our heroine manages interviews with staff at the laboratory and a local public library, a city councilman, and a number of other small players in this working-class Boston suburb. Perhaps the murder has nothing to do with boron at all. Maybe we should be talking to the local Catholic church. Along the way, her romance with Matt hits some milestones. Minichino describes the workaday lives of Italian-Americans in Revere, Massachusetts, and observes how the town has changed over the decades her heroine was away in California. This story moves faster and with perhaps a few more convenient twists than Minichino's previous novels. It sustains, though, the light conventions of the genre. Certainly a curiosity for readers, like this one, familiar with that part of the country. Overall a straightforward murder mystery with the expected red herrings, diversions, and slip-ups of the heroine along the way.
Also by Minichino: [The Hydrogen Murder] [The Helium Murder] [The Lithium Murder] [The Beryllium Murder] [The Carbon Murder]