The Dogwood Murders
Stephan Zimmermann & Bill House
Lulu.com
Copyright ©2005
$ 8.92 Paperback
$2.98 Ebook
72 Pages
With no preview and a descriptive blurb consisting of only two sentences on Lulu, I took a chance on reading and reviewing Stephan Zimmermann and Bill House’s very short published work, The Dogwood Murders. It’s definitely a chance I’m glad I took as this is a very nice short story, and being that is probably it’s only drawback. It’s so good that it’s a shame that it is so short. This could definitely be developed into a novella or longer piece of work. I see it working great in a collection of similar short stories, that had I read, this particular story would have shined with me.
It’s the story of Nancy Harrington who lives in the small Ozark town of Bear’s Ridge. In Chapter 1, Nancy is attending the funeral of her mother. The gossipy smalltown talk between Nancy and her sister is so good that it’s almost humorous. Being from the south myself, I could definitely relate and it read like conversations I know I’ve overheard at funerals before. What immediately stood out to me is the very specific and colorful descriptions used to introduce the other characters. In a handful of words, the reader can immediately paint a picture of what type of character is being introduced and what their surroundings are like. It definitely helped give the book some Southern flare. Here are just some of the scenes that I liked:
Despite being at their mother’s funeral, the two sisters discuss their dead Daddy’s “affair with a Memphis woman” and the inflation that ate up his pension.
They oogle over a handsome pallbearer whom neither of them can identify.
They snip at each other over how cultured and traveled they are.
Brother Bob Hopewell anxiously awaits graveside with a “worn, black, leather bound Bible clasped in hand.”
Seamus MacPherson, “the only man in Bear’s Ridge who had absolutely and painstakingly spent a small fortune to prove his direct lineage to the Scottish Black Watch battalion,” stands graveside with bagpipes in hand ready to play Amazing Grace, and who despite being in his seventies, flirts with all the women at the lodge.
Nancy encourages her sister to take “a doggy bag and a bottle of vodka” when leaving the wake.
There’s also a brilliant description of a Southern wake at the beginning of Chapter 4:
If a funeral in a small southern town is an event of solemn note, the after-funeral gathering, much like an Irish wake, is a ritual assemblage of friends and relatives of the deceased. Emotional reminiscences about the deceased’s good deeds abound, as do some tall tales of dubious authenticity. Unlike an Irish wake, however, where the priest is the first most likely celebrant of fine spirits, the presence of a Baptist minister sternly precludes such festivities until his timely departure.
Let’s not forget the Southern-drawl that laces the conversations and also helps to give the characters life. The humor here, intentional or not, is reminiscent of the great Flannery O’Connor herself.
The comedy turns dark when Nancy is alone and sits down to reflect upon a puppy she had when she was a little girl, which she “accidentally” drowned when trying to teach it to stay away from the creek. After spotting the pallbearer stranger in a photo from her father’s funeral, she begins to obsess over finding him again. As Nancy attempts to move forward with her life and put her mother’s affairs in order, other secrets about who Nancy really is are soon revealed.
A delicious argument over a man named Jerry Grant later ensues between the two sisters which culminates with an evil climax that only Alfred Hitchcock could have dreamed up. The scene with Nancy, lying in a hospital bed, still obsessing over Jerry and crying out over the unfortunate events that have taken place, is quite delicious.
As I said before, the book is just too short, so it’s paperback price will not be very appealing to readers because most full length books cost at least that much these days. It seems that just as it is getting started, you are already half way through it and the book is not even one hundred pages long. It’s definitely worth an e-read though. This is the skeleton of what has the potential to be a really nice black comedy. With a bit more substance, and more of an inner look into its central character, The Dogwood Murders could be even better.
