The Corpse with the Steely Gaze is the 16th book in Cathy Ace’s popular Cait Morgan series. The death of American soap actor Jayson Flyntt triggers the action in this book. His fans went wild for closeups of his expressive eyes but unfortunately his television career came to an abrupt end when salary negotiations did not go as intended. While unemployed for several years, Jayson focused on charitable work and his family. Prior to his death, he invested in the science fiction movie that he was also acting in. Why would anyone want to murder him?
Typically, these cosy mystery books have criminal psychologist Cait and her husband Bud Anderson, a retired cop, travelling to different tourist destinations like Paris or Tahiti, but this time Ace has kept the at their home in Vancouver, Canada. The natural beauty of this cosmopolitan city appeals to many visitors, while tax incentives from the provincial government appeal to film and TV productions from the US, hence its nickname – Hollywood North.
As a university professor and criminal psychologist, Cait has a strong understanding of human behaviour and the ability to retain large amount of information in her short-term memory. Combine those skills along with those of Bud and you will find a crime fighting duo with a solve rate on par with Poirot.
The book opens with a frustrated Cait grumbling about how the trailers for the movie being filmed on campus are preventing her from parking closer to her office. She is unaware that the parking situation is about to be the least of her concerns. When she exits the elevator on her floor she finds Sami, a member of the cleaning staff, crying. Sami is in shock after finding a shirtless man lying on the floor of the office next to Cait’s, which belongs to a faculty member who is away from the university.
Parm, an employee of the security department, has taken control of the situation by closing the office door and contacting the police and his boss. Cait is not about to let a closed door prevent her from viewing a crime scene. From the doorway, she sees the dead man wearing the lower half of a space costume. There is a bottle of vodka, a couple of glasses and a cigar stub is in an ashtray. Parm identifies the corpse as that of Jayson Flyntt.
After the police have questioned Cait, Sami and Parm, they are free to go. Cait begins to satisfy her need for information about the dead man by searching the web. By all accounts, he appears to be a model citizen and family man.
The following day, Marsha, Jayson’s wife shows up at Cait’s office. She is looking for details about his death. The police have advised her that Jayson died of an accidental fentanyl overdose but she refuses to accept that he fell off the wagon. Marsha insists that he has been sober for years and would never use drugs or alcohol again. Cait continues to conduct her own investigation.
In the other books in this series, Ace transports you to different countries. In this book, she takes you behind the scenes on a movie set. It can be challenging in the cinematic world to clearly see what is a façade and what is genuine. Who was the real Jayson Flynnt? Cait finds this case challenging and stages of few performances of her own to uncover the truth. The methods that she uses to solve this case are creative and rather manipulative at times.
Like her other books, The Corpse with the Steely Gaze has a diverse cast of characters and an absorbing plot. Over the years Ace has perfected the blend of humour and surprises in her contemporary cosy style. Bud isn’t so actively involved this time, no doubt because the murder happened at Cait’s place of employment. However, he does reach out to his contacts in the force to gather information for Cait. Of course he’s there for the customary grand reveal where the identity of the murderer is exposed.
It should be noted that Cathy Ace also writes another cosy series featuring the WISE Enquiries Agency. The Corpse with the Steely Gaze may be her 16th book in the Cait Morgan series however it is her 30th published book. That is a wonderful accomplishment to be celebrated.
For more crime fiction set in British Columbia, see Bronco Buster by AJ Devlin, and Sunset and Jericho by Sam Wiebe.
Four Tails Publishing
Print/Kindle
£3.74
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
