A Long Time Dead, A Joe Turner Mystery

A Long Time Dead is the third book in the Joe Turner mystery series by T.L. Bequette. What I found interesting in this particular book is that Joe was not the main character. In fact, he only popped up here and there during the story mainly during flashbacks of him and his best friend Owen Prescott, the true main character in the book. This threw me for a bit of a loop since I have read one other Joe Turner book where he was indeed the main character and much of that book took place in the courtroom being that Joe is a Criminal Defense attorney.

A Long Time Dead starts with a scene where Owen is running from a man. In further chapters readers will learn that Owen had been arrested in 2013 for the murder of his former professor, Norvel Anendale who was filing a lawsuit against Owen for stealing his book idea. This lawsuit was one hundred percent bogus because it was Owen’s work that Anendale had wanted to collaborate on with Owen responding with, “Thanks but I think I work better alone.” This made Owen the number one suspect in Anendale’s death. The worst part is that Owen’s DNA is found at the scene of the crime.

Bequette does a thorough job of describing his characters and all of their quirks. The book is written in the third person and the reader is given the birds eye view of Owen, Margo (a love interest), and Alyssa (the FBI agent trying to find Owen). Owen’s job of a writer is less than boring as he even has a crazy stalker who he ends up filing a restraining order against.

The day before Owen is about to get convicted, he flees the country. He ends up in the small village of Tetley leaving behind his parents, girlfriend April, and best friend Joe. Living a secluded life with only Mrs. Pembroke, whom he had purchased his cottage from, around and occasionally going to the local pub, Owen is very careful about who he speaks to and is living under the name of Ancil Bradford. Then he meets Margo, a very fit, beautiful woman who he starts falling for. As Owen/Ancil’s world starts to slowly unravel and he becomes more and more suspicious of people, he feels as if he will be caught soon. This book has all the elements of a bestselling psychological thriller, with twists and turns around every corner. The characters are intriguing and all of them seem to have dark secrets. The setting is lovely and quaint. Readers will not be disappointed as every aspect of the book comes together in the end. In fact, Owen may need his very own series soon as he is just as, if not more, likable than Joe.