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Motives for Murder |
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 Motives for Murder byPat Gebhard Creative Arts Book Company 260 pages, 2000 ISBN 0887392687 Reviewed by Susan McBride Motives for Murder is retired librarian Pat Gebhard’s first novel, and it’s quite an interesting debut. Told from the perspective of Lucy Metzger, the wife of murdered professor and womanizer Martin Metzger, the tale begins with Lucy’s arrest for suspicion of killing her husband by tainting his vitamins with cyanide. He’s on a business trip to New York when he takes this fatal dose, and Lucy is further traumatized by a call from Martin’s friend and roommate on the trip asking her how she could do it. Lucy speaks directly to the reader, showing us her side of the story and taking us back through various highlights (or lowlights) in the life she shared with Martin. She’s a vulnerable woman and unimaginably naïve. Yet I found myself caring enough about her to wonder how she got herself into such a mess, and to try to discern why she stayed with a man who cheated on her throughout their relationship, even after the birth of their three children. Ms. Gebhard’s writing is honest and direct, if at times stilted, but appealing enough to compel me to continue the book through its finish. I was bothered by Lucy’s so-called friends - and even by her father - who believed she was so firmly guilty of the crime that the first thing each one said to her, after learning of Martin’s death was: "You killed him, didn’t you?" From what I learned of Lucy, she was the last person who would have poisoned her fickle hubby. She seemed to love him despite his many foibles and to forgive his sins no matter how despicable. That those around her couldn’t see this is puzzling. Motives for Murder is an intriguing first outing, different enough from the typical mystery fare to make it worth a look. |
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