Write To Murder

You remember those gripping tales mixing legal suspense and Southern charm that flowed from the pen of John Grisham during the last decade. Or the great Southern drawl of earthy tradition from William FauIkner in an earlier time? It seems we have among us a modern author of similar talents, a gentleman nurtured in the steamy culture of the moist land in that network of slow-moving southern Louisiana bayous a hundred miles southwest of New Orleans. This author is none other than Jerry Pat Bolton.
Many of us have enjoyed Jerry’s adroit skills at weaving poetic wonder and short stories that play to the often flawed characters that one just knows have been an intimate part of his life, in part or in whole. Jerry has a throng of memorable literary bits and pieces and other novels to his credit.
In Write To Murder, Jerry spins a great yarn mixing two common household ingredients that are, by themselves not too alarming, and can even be inert. But when poured together through Jerry Pat Bolton's pen, they combine with a dangerous explosive force, like rubbing alcohol and peroxide. Those of us who follow him are familiar with his great yearning to write prose and poetry that is “outside the box” in its ability to penetrate the consciousness of its audience — literary derring-do that puts our wares on a shelf above those of others.
The other common element is found in abundance in that too-long list of flawed character traits of the human race. Greed, lust, avarice, cupidity, rapacity and covetousness, among others, meld into the scabs on the festering rash that Jerry Pat Bolton meticulously picks at for fodder for this book. What results is a set of colorful portraitures that tangle in a race through a Shakespearean-plotted story-line to a climactic and dramatic finish.
What more could one want in a murder-mystery than Voodoo tainted Cajun swampland harboring such a volatile mixture? Not a lot, in my opinion. Jerry Pat Bolton's latest will keep you entertained at the beach this summer or curled up in your reading chair at home. You won’t even notice the blondes strutting by in the sand or the clock ticking toward midnight at home. This is a good book. Four stars! Congratulations, Jerry Pat Bolton!

Review by R. Leland Waldrip, author of Vigilante Virus and The Last Grizzly

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The Bayou Bards, a fledgling writers’ group in the South Louisiana town of Sans Souci has a killer in its midst.
When Mary Lamb, writer of children’s books, is murdered, Detective Lee Fontaine is called from the graveyard of deskwork.
While happy to be back solving crimes, Lee finds that he has been saddled with a new partner, Farla Charlet. Lee believes that she has been assigned to him as a watchdog, ready and willing to report anything and everything he does or does not do.
The Bayou Bards consist of a colorful palette of people, including Numa Richards, who is filled with hate and rage over a literary incident during his youth, Jolene, a prostitute who takes pride in herself and her work, Vonzell St. Germaine, a rather radical writer and Hope Springs with her son Adam, who is supposed to be the greatest writer of the century in the near future, according to Hope Springs and her plans.
Write to Murder will open the world of each character to you. In a fresh and daring way Jerry Bolton brings each one of the characters into your life, lets you feel and understand their thoughts and emotions, their hopes and fears. He awakes your compassion for each and every single character coming into play during this mystery. With great skill and attention to detail the plot unfolds, while it draws you into the depth of murder, revenge and, maybe, insanity.
Occasionally you will hold your breath and then, suddenly, there will be a scene to make you smile, followed by another to bring tears close.
A true page-turner, leaving you anxious for the next Jerry Bolton novel once you’ve finished Write to Murder.
Personally we would just love to read more novels with the characters of Lee Fontaine and Farla Charlet. Maybe there could be a sequence…

Review by Roger and Birgit Pratcher, authors of The Conspiracy - The Black Sheep Squadron Strikes Back and June Bear Adventures - The Missing Pies

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Write To Murder, is another thriller from Jerry Pat Bolton. The setting is a small Louisiana town by the name of Sans Souci. When Mary Lamb, member of the Bayou Bards receives her first children’s book contract, she is murdered. Detective Lee Fontaine, town drunk drying out from when his wife left him, is ordered to work the case. Fontaine has been saddled with a new partner, Farla Charlet, a budding lesbian uncomfortable in her own skin. The two don’t rub on well together.

When the second member of the group is murdered, the team of Fontaine and Charlet close ranks to solve the murders. Adding to the flawed characters Bolton is known for, Hope Springs and her son Adam round out this strange and somewhat unholy writer's group. Hope is determined to mold and shape Adam into America's next great novelist, and Adam is rebelling.

The members of the Bayou Bards are a strange group. Rivalries, jealousies, greed, lust, avarice, and covetousness…all undercurrents in Bolton’s novels, and he spares no expense in creating a slate of writer wannabes in ‘Write to Murder.’

All the Bards have secrets, but Numa Richards, ringmaster of the Bards has the most to hide. A true thriller ending will knock your socks off as only Bolton can do.

Review by Elizabeth Lucas-Taylor, author off Unfinished Business