Third Millennium, 2003, $15, ISBN 1-929381-35-2, 454 pgs. Softcover

Now, here's a curious combination hearkening back to the 1960s when you bought one paperback, but it had two novels. You read one, and when finished, you flipped the book over and read the other. However, usually, they were the same genre.

With Rhodes' newest work, The Red Menace is the third book in his alternate WWII trilogy. Derby Day is a 1970 era murder mystery. I'm not sure how you market that unlikely duo (although there is mention of the Vietnam War in Derby Day), but give him credit for trying.

If you read the first two books (Last Reich and Return of the Rising Sun) in the series, The Red Menace ties everything up. Rhodes again presents a fast-paced book of power and finances, centering on the Korean peninsula, but well linked into the US and Russia. And yet again, he comes up with clever plot points to propel the story along.

Derby Day, I admit, is not my genre. However, I did find it a quick enough read, with the typical Rhodes plotting well done. As for the murderer, well, it wasn't the butler as there was no butler in the story. Part of the appeal of a murder mystery is figuring out who is the murderer. I'm not that inquisitive. I can say it wasn't obvious.

The characters received better development than usual, in part because you follow fewer of them in this murder mystery than an action thriller. Or maybe Rhodes is just getting better. Or maybe because the Vietnam War provided a better backdrop.

Susan Lockwood, whose preferred genre is murder mysteries, offers a different take on Derby Day. She notes it breaks a few of the "rules" of mysteries--Rhodes spends an awful lot of time developing the character that ultimately gets killed (usually, the dead body is just a dead body that the reader does not get close to), and that the murder is especially brutal. The latter point can be a plus or minus. She notes that it left her a tad queasy, unlike the Graftons and Clarks and James of the world where the deaths are more subtle. Still, she continues to read it to find out who the murderer is, and comes across portions that are well thought out.

However, she notes that the typos, primarily punctuation, detract and distract. I've noted the same thing as well, and that applies to both novels.

Conclusions

And so, The Derby Day Murder Mystery is hard for me to rate. I just haven't read many of the genre. Parts of it were quite interesting, an opinion echoed by Susan. Other parts seemed typical of the genre. This is, afterall Rhodes' first work in the genre, and both of us note the potential.

However, The Red Menace earns a thumbs up. I enjoyed his first two parts of the trilogy, and enjoyed bringing it to a close.

All in all: well done!

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