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Death Train to Boston |
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 Death Train to Boston: A Fremont Jones Mystery by Dianne Day Doubleday 288 pages, 1999 ISBN 038548609X Reviewed by PJ Nunn In a lifestyle atypical of early 1900 womanhood, Fremont Jones enjoys the home and private investigation business she shares with Michael Kossoff. Death Train to Boston, the fifth Fremont Jones adventure, finds her on a train sleuthing out a series of incidents plaguing the Southern Pacific Railroad. The investigation is hardly underway when an explosion rocks the train and leaves Michael dazed, surrounded by injured people beside an upended railroad car wondering where Fremont could be. As soon as he's able, Michael contacts an old friend of Fremont's and the two set off to solve the mystery of her disappearance. It quickly becomes evident that dynamite was only the first attempt at extinguishing the activities of Michael and Fremont. Soon, both Michael and Meiling are fleeing for their lives, trying desperately to make sense of the disappearance and identify their pursuer. Meanwhile, Fremont awakens to a whole newworld. Her memory is vague and she's being examined by a man who obviously has a plan for her. Confined to a small room, in so much pain she can hardly move, Fremont slowly comes to an alarming conclusion. The man is a renegade Mormon with five wives and every intention of making Fremont the sixth. Lack of communication with the outside world and wives that pledge undying loyalty to her captor make Fremont wonder how she'll ever get out of this situation. But, with plotting and patience, she makes her getaway to a nearby town. From there, the three join forces and bring the plot to a tidy conclusion. Death Train to Boston is a helpful study in style. There is enough information to set the stage in time without cluttering the plot and causing distraction. Dianne Day presents prose appropriate to this particular period in history, inserting just enough quaint phraseology to serve as a reminder that it isn't set in the present day. What I find most fascinating is her portrayal of Fremont's captor and his wives - vividly illustrating the motivations behind the unusual behavior. Day's skill allows the reader to glimpse the minds of the women who have chosen this lifestyle and gain understanding of why they made the choice. Death Train to Boston is a worthwhile read. |
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