The Guilty Village

Rating:
Summary: Sturm und Drang
Review: Every precinct of mobile homes, whether park or court, woods, grove, or manor, builds a culture of its own. However varied the residents may be and whatever the ebb and flow of tenantry, a distinct ethos is created. And,as lives intertwine, social dynamics are generated. There are strata of power, circles of confidence and suspicion, and tides of social change. These operate to produce a singular design. That design, however, may be a web of malignant mystery as it is in the demesne of Leo Bass, owner, manager, and resident tyrant at Basswood Motor Home Court.
It is the sudden death of the obnoxious Mr. Bass that propels Adam Clay, State Trooper, to the scene. He finds hinself looking into not just one mystery but a whole set of strange events, past, present, and imminent. As in the medieval village good intentions and bad acts swirl around an interesting cast of characters, well sketched and strongly developed. The strands of mystery reach even deeper. We are steered gently by means of very effective dialogue into the enigma of a murder. Then we meet , too, the moral ambiguities of the "free speech," "free love," "burn baby burn" climate of the Sixties. The issues and actions of the trailer court people turn out to be connected to another scene of action, the campus of Arden College.
The death of Leo Bass, apparently by a stroke of lightning, an "Act of God," is an explanation that satisfies, indeed pleases, all but Adam Clay. He sees unconnected wires and closely connected lives suggesting that God is working in ways more mysterious than lightning. The cross connection among certain of the tenants provide more culpability than any detective needs. Simple good and evil keep tripping over each other.
The scenes grow dark and dangerous, even for those bent on doing good. Colliding events, at Basswood and on the Arden campus, confront Trooper Clay and the reader with a well-drawn series of moral challenges, some of which remain after the last page is read. Piece by piece and against the stubborn tides of common sense, Clay builds his sppecial brief carrying the reader along through every step. He "solves" the case but leaves us and most of his characters with some intricate moral dilemmas. These are characters of substance and they endure. This book is not exactly "ulta-lite" fare. The edged writing requires the reader to keep track of the twists and turns of the plot. It's a worthwhile trail!
Days after the cover is closed and the slim volume returned to the shelf one is likely to be musing: Does Clay ever put to rest his own demons? Can Father McGrath come to terms with his dupicitous saints? And, sometimes, where did I put Helen Brownell's new address?