KILLING THE BOSS by Brian Pinkerton

KILLING THE BOSS by Brian Pinkerton
Writers Club Press AND imprint of iUniverse.com.Inc. - 2000
ISBN 0595149871
Police / Detective

Reviewed by Sue Johnson, MyShelf.com
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"Killing the Boss" is not your common presentation of the familiar murder mystery. From the very first page the reader realizes this is not your normal novel.

The story is told entirely with office memos, faxes and transcripts from voicemail, police reports and interviews, among other things.

We learn from the very beginning that Douglas Dardis, sales vice president, of Kitchen Works is not a very nice man. He has also made many enemies in the short time that he has been there. Besides not being a nice man, we discover that he is an even worse boss. He bullies and threatens everyone in his range. But the question is whom did he drive to the ultimate act ofrage?

Was it his timid secretary, Lydia? Although she is 7 months pregnant it appears that she bares the brunt of his rage. Or could it be Dolores Fowler, his customer support supervisor? She is deeply religious and soon becomes convinced that Mr. Dardis is the Devil in disguise. Or could it be Helen McCarty, the catalog coordinator? She has a past she would rather remain hidden but Dardis has discovered her secrets. Or could he be young Seth? Seth has a hippie soul and a free sprit that Dardis was determined to tame. Or is it one of the many other employees that Dardis has made their work life a living hell. It could be any of these employees or several more people.

It is up to the reader to sift through the evidence and the police transcripts and figure this one out for themselves. I greatly enjoyed this book. I found myself drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery. I could not pass by the book without picking it to read one more paragraph, to uncover just one more clue. The premise of the interviews, transcripts and such to tell this tale was a switch from the norm and made this book a very fast read.