AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

RICK RIORDAN

            I recently reviewed a number of Rick Riordan’s YA books. While in the process of reading and reviewing these books, I learned that before writing the YA series, Riordan had written a series of mysteries for adults: the Tres Navarre series. I devoured the seven books in this series – so quickly, in fact, that I wondered how I was going to digest and review each of these books. I finally decided to try this new format, wherein I will focus on Riordan more generally, with an overall review of his Tres Navarre series. Riordan also wrote another, stand alone, adult book, Cold Springs, published in the midst of the Tres Navarre series. That book is covered here, too.

            Tres Navarre is a Tai Chi practicing private investigator, with a Ph.D. in English. Tres had been born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. When his father, the sheriff, was murdered right in front of him, Tres left San Antonio.

            At the beginning of the first book, Big Red Tequila (1997), which won the Anthony and Shamus Awards, Tres has just moved back to San Antonio from California, ten years later. He is rekindling his relationship with Lillian, his childhood sweetheart, and looking for work as an investigator. But, he is unable to let rest the still unresolved question: who murdered his father? The deeper Tres digs, however, the more trouble he finds. The second book in the series is The Widower’s Two-Step (1998), an Edgar Award winner. Tres is working as an apprentice investigator, with just hours to go before he can get his private investigator’s license, when the woman he is watching at a stakeout is murdered in front of him. As Tres delves into the murder, his investigation leads him – and us – deep into the Texas music industry. In the third book, The Last King of Texas (2000), Tres is able to utilize his Ph.D., stepping in when a UTSA English professor is killed. He teaches English classes while investigating the murder. The fourth book is The Devil Went Down To Austin (2001). Tres is scheduled to teach summer school at the University of Texas in Austin; however, the summer takes a bizarre turn when his brother’s partner is murdered and his brother is the prime suspect. In the fifth book, Southtown (2004), some very bad men have escaped from Floresville State Penitentiary. Tres becomes involved and finds there is more to this than meets the eye. Mission Road (2005), the sixth book in the series, involves a cold case with the SAPD. There are many who do not want the case reopened. Tres gets involved when one of his oldest friends is wanted for murder. Rebel Island (2007) is the final book in the series. Tres travels to nearby Rebel Island, where the Navarre family had vacationed when Tres was a boy, arriving just in time for murder and mayhem and a devastating hurricane.

            Although each book in the series is a well-written, interesting stand alone mystery, the character development throughout the series is noteworthy. Each also provides a wonderful snapshot of a part of Texas. It is difficult for me to select one favorite book from the series. Probably my least favorite is Rebel Island – in part because I knew it was the last of the series and in part it was a little too much Agatha Christie-esque for me. Mission Road is probably the saddest in the series – I grieved for one of the series’ characters that Riordan killed off and still feel that loss today. But the subtle humor and clever writing that I have found noteworthy in Riordan’s young adult series are present throughout this series as well.

            Cold Springs, Riordan’s stand alone adult book, is a different story. Chadwick is a teacher in California whose life is turned upside down. He ends up in Texas working for a military buddy who runs a sort of last stop, tough love wilderness school for troubled teens. Cold Springs is unlike the other Riordan books that I read. I did not like any of the characters. The book engaged me enough that I was compelled to continue through to the end, but I did not enjoy the book. I am glad that I read it, but this is the only Riordan book with which I am not enamored. However, I am still unable to pinpoint how this book differs from Riordan’s other work and why I feel this way.

            Throughout this process of reading everything Riordan, my admiration and respect for his work has continued to grow. I highly recommend Riordan’s books, and I look forward to reading anything he writes for any intended age group.