Father Hardy shines!
on December 27, 2015
The protagonist is a complex man; an Episcopal Priest both practical and tough, who mixes a weary faith with compassion and insight into human nature to influence the hard-scrabble lives in his frontier village, deep in the wilds of Alaska. The relationships he builds throughout ring true and are laced with humor and affection, even as they are tinged with suspicion in relation to the cold-blooded murder of a widely-loathed man, Frankie Slick.
As the mystery unfolds, Stratman deftly balances an ethereal haunting steeped in the grieving heart of a lonely man, with the brutal reality of life on the edge of starvation and poverty lived at minus thirty degrees. With snipers, spies, the dark underbelly of human nature, and the redemption that an earned faith can bring to even the darkest corners of life, "Indecent Exposure" is a page-turning delight. The prose feels effortless as the pages evaporate in record time. The noir-ish mystery is both tantalizing and realistically satisfying, yet still manages to explore grief, betrayal, and the enduring values of compassion and faith.
Weaving these facets into a compelling novel is no mean feat, but to do so in a lean 236 pages is a tour de force in narrative pacing and literary style. Fans of episodic mystery series everywhere have a strong entry into the genre, and a memorable protagonist to root for. Can't wait for the next installment!
