Matters of Doubt by Warren C Easely (Cal Claxon #1)

Matters of Doubt by Warren C. Easley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Book Blurb: Cal Claxton is determined to reinvent himself as a small town lawyer in the aftermath of his wife’s suicide. Once a hard charging L.A. prosecutor, he now lives in solitude in an old farmhouse overlooking the Oregon wine country. When a scruffy, tattooed kid shows up asking for help in solving his mother’s cold case murder, Cal wants to say no: times are tough, and he’s no private eye, anyway. But the kid, who calls himself Picasso, has ridden a bike all the way from Portland in the rain, and something about his determination touches Cal.

It turns out Picasso is homeless, joining the legions of kids who are drawn to Portland’s Old Town. He is also a gifted artist painting a mural on the side of a health clinic operated by an idealistic doctor named Anna. Things take an ugly turn when Picasso is charged with the murder of a prominent Portland businessman. The evidence against him is overwhelming, but, at Anna’s urging, Cal steps in to defend Picasso. Suddenly Cal finds himself pitted against the police, the media and some of Portland’s most powerful citizens.

Is Picasso being framed? And if so, is there a connection between the two murders? As he peels back the layers of truth, he realizes too late that he has put both himself and Anna in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer.

The book blurb (and multitude of reviews) summarize the plot more than adequetly so I won't rehash.

"Read" as an audio book.

I'll start with the narration as performed by Michael Kramer. If you've listened to some of Brandon Sanderson's books or the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan, you've heard Mr. Kramer. I quite enjoyed the sound of his voice, he adroitly managed different intonations for both the male and female characters, and had a good cadence which all made for an engaging reading experience.

I had stumbled across this book on Audible and was intrigued as I've bounced around the Portland and Dundee area and have relations living in Corvalis. I'm also well aware of Portland's (western Oregon, really) homeless concern so thought this could be an interesting book.

And it was, with some caveats. I'll start with - this is a first book and the book itself could have used a couple more rounds with an editor or proofreader. Two examples come to mind, calling a Glock 19 a revolver (it's not) and Anna putting a finger to her lips when her hands were tied behind her back. Glaring mistakes that could have been easily avoided.

I also found the lamentations about the homeless issue as relates to kids and Oregonian liberalism to be a bit heavy handed. I have talked to Oregonian's and while yes, homelessness is a concern (problem), it's not "just" kids, and many 20 year olds are doing it intentionally. It's a complex, complicated, and polarizing issue.

For a cozy mystery, I thought the murder mystery was overly complex and - I'm going to say it - unrealistic. Yes, yes, that's almost the definition of "cozy mystery". I think if the author had stuck to two main murders and hadn't expanded beyond that, this would have been a stronger book.

My quibbles aside (and the grumbles from the Husband), it was still an entertaining listen. I enjoyed Cal, Anna, Picasso and Nando. I worried about Cal's dog. I loved the food descriptions (the book should have come with a menu at the end). And the setting didn't disappoint and loved tracking the characters around Portland and Dundee. My only regret is this is the only installment available on audio/Audible.

Recommended with some small reservations.

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