Latest Seattle-Based Whodunit ‘Deception Pass’ Clever Read

“Deception Pass” By Earl Emerson (Ballantine, $22)

Earl Emerson’s deftly-written Thomas Black mysteries are the best of the Seattle-based whodunits, and his latest, “Deception Pass” delivers in his usual style.

Emerson combines two intertwined mysteries in this book: Who killed four college students in a remote cabin on Whidbey Island? And who is trying to blackmail a Seattle computer millionaire 20 years later over her part in this gruesome crime?

The result is a clever and fast-paced read, ideal for a quick evening or two in front of your fireplace or, if you have the nerve for it, an autumn weekend in a remote Whidbey Island cabin.

Thomas Black is an amiable kind of P.I. He is not overly macho, not overly tortured and not overly cynical. He’s a stand-up kind of guy who values action over introspection, but indulges in both with moderation. He’s just the kind of lead character you’d expect from an author who is also a lieutenant in the Seattle Fire Department.

Emerson does not go overboard on the local atmosphere. He resists the urge to make the book into a travelogue of Seattle, yet he also provides enough telling details to provide a pleasant tingle of recognition. Black’s offices are in a historic old building in Pioneer Square, and the action takes us up to Capitol Hill, over to Bellevue and down to Southcenter Mall.

Emerson also takes us on a road trip to Deception Pass, where we look down into the swirling waters of Puget Sound. It makes an ominous setting for some of the darker events of the book.

Characterization and strict attention to the realities of human behavior are not Emerson’s strong points. There are a few contrived characters and situations. Elizabeth Faulconer, a reporter and pathological liar, and Priscilla Penick, a neurotic lawyer, are particularly overdrawn.

However, the book takes us on a mostly believable journey through a plot that, yes, could have happened. Most important of all, Black and his lawyer wife Kathy make for an enjoyable pair of chaperones.

, DataTimes