Set in the Pacific Northwest, this series follows a homeless woman who calls herself Singer Brown. A musician who sings on the street for coins, Singer watches the ebb and flow of life around her. With a knack for being in the right place at the wrong time, Singer is one of society's invisible people. But being unseen is an incredible advantage when you're digging for secrets.
Long Gone Man is the first book in this new series, and has won the Gold Medal Award for 2014 from the independent Publishers Association in the Mystery/Thriller category.
Phyllis Smallman, author of the Sheri Travis mystery series, begins a new series with Long GoneMan, featuring Singer Brown, a middle-aged woman who'd be comfortable at Travis's Florida bar.
Brown peddles her voice for coins on street corners, and lives in an old van full of aches, pain and memories. The memory of a past lover's suspicious death leads her to Glenphiddie Island in the Pacific Northwest, just in time to learn of the murder of the man she suspects is the source of her 20 years of pain.
Suspects include a widow, other band members and, for some, Singer herself. Add motive, revenge, a gloriously obscure setting and the RCMP, and Smallman delivers a fresh take on the old saying that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Don Graves ~ The Hamilton Spectator ~ November 2, 2013