Tempest at the Sunsphere was a walk down memory lane. I was there—actually, really and truly—I was there. In 1982, I was one of the eleven million who saw the Chinese exhibit and rode to the top of the sphere. Twenty five years later, I wandered through the park, sat in the amphitheater and watched the Flags of All Nations flutter in the breeze. Did you know that you can still ring in the New Year at the top of the Sunsphere? The last time I visited the site, there was even a construction barricade at the base of the tower where where we will find the corpus delecti, murdered and mutilated.

Knox County Sheriff's Department Chief of Detectives Shiloh (Shy) Tempest gets a heads up that there is trouble at the Sunsphere and the victim is ex-cop Jerry Carpenter. This is a Knoxville Police Department case, but grudging courtesy is extended to Shy because of his long friendship and working relationship with the deceased. The murder weapon and method are esoteric, quickly narrowing the range of knowledgeable suspects to an old flame, a jilted girlfriend, a couple of jealous guys and a handful of psychopaths.

This is a stand-up straight, eyes forward police procedural, and it may be my familiarity with the locale that made me feel like I was reading a screenplay. The sixty-ish Tempest is a man's man, an experienced, no-nonsense cop, saying cojones and charging in to the rescue (casting: John Wayne). He's a real tough cookie with two marked soft spots, the girl and the dog. The girl is Jennifer, Shy's compañera of 20 years, described as "a little more than a girlfriend, a little less than a wife." Their relationship is comfortable and casual, and you can feel the tingle between them. The dog is Magdala, whose owner is beating her with a Louisville Slugger when Shy gets the call. He takes the German Shepard home and the tenderness in that scene was real and made me cry.

I enjoyed Tempest at the Sunsphere and I will be looking for the next installment in this series.