His Name Is John (Elliott Smith Mystery, No. 1) by Dorien Grey
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Book Reviews of His Name Is John (Elliott Smith Mystery, No. 1)
Book Review: His Name is John by Dorien Grey
Summary: 5 Stars
When I started this book I wasn't expecting to find romance in it, since it was presented as an old classic sleuthing novel, and so you can imagine my surprise when the hero, Elliott, not only has a romance, he has THREE romance, two of them at the same time, and he is not even a slut ;-)
But I will try to start from the beginning. Elliott is a very wealth man without attitude, who chose to work not for necessity but for pleasure. He loves the olf fashioned buildings of Chicago (a thing Chicago is famous for and I can say since I wandered for the city centre searching for them when i was there) and he made a work of them: he buys a building at time, gives it new life to then selling it to trusted hands. And sometime he falls in love for a building so much that he doesn't have the heart to sell it, and so Elliott has a strange collection: where other people collect miniatures, he collects real building. If you find strange that I spend so much time talking of Elliott's hobby, it is since most of Elliott's passion is reserved to his love for those old buildings, on a personal level he is quite aloof, almost detached. Elliott is a real nice guy, he seems to have no problem to find a guy when he wants it, and all his past lovers are still in nice terms with him... also since Elliott is so good that he is never the one to dump, they dumped him, always pleading forgiveness... mmm, I believe that Elliott is real good to not become involved when he doesn't want it.
When the story starts, Elliott is in hospital recovering from an accident and he "feels" that someone else is in the room. Elliott, practical guy he is, soon realizes that the presence is a ghost, and it doesn't take him much to link the ghost, whose first words were, My name is John, to the John Doe who was admitted in the ER at his same time, and who unfortunately died. The ghost is not actually your usual ghost, he is as I said, a presence, he talks in Elliott's mind when said mind is free from any other thought (means when Elliott is asleep), and makes clear his presence giving strange feelings to Elliott regarding objects and pictures. The ghost apparently is suffering from amnesia, and Elliott's quest to find who he is goes pace to pace with his ability to recall little pieces of his past life. So the main mystery, the core of the book, is to find out who was John, and the author is very good in letting the reader catches only little clues here and there. I pretty much soon suspected who John was, but I had an advantage that not many of you will have. Anyway I don't want to say more on it, since as I always say, you can't summarize a mystery without risking to give up the mystery itself.
Let us instead talk of Elliott's personal life, that is for me almost as interest as the mystery itself. At the beginning of the book, Elliott is in an on / off relationship with Rick; Rick is a nice guy, but sincerely I don't feel like Elliott was really involved; and so I was not surprise when Elliott manages to be dumped again... Rick also took the guilty on himself, and Elliott told him to not worry. I was not so disappointed that the first romance in the book ended in such a cold way, since I was already planning the romance between Elliott and John, the ghost. But no, even if I'm sure to have read something more between Elliott and John than a simple utilitarian bond aimed to discover John's identity, the author has someone else in mind for Elliott. Enter Steve, a young, hot and nice latin american guy who Elliott meets in a club and the same night takes to bed. The relationship between Elliott and Steve is more interesting than the one with Rick, but still I feel like Elliott is not entirely involved, I always feel as if he is taking back something. It's strange Elliott is quite a "physical" man, he has sex both with Rick than with Steve (but not at the same time!), even if the author adopts the the "behind closed door"'s rule, the reader knows that Elliott is not shy or antisocial, but truth be told, I felt a real emotional involvement only with John, and John is not even corporeal!
In the end, maybe I'm wrong but for me the real couple here are Elliott and John; Steve is a really nice guy, even John tells so to Elliott, and the reader can't really resent him, since being John a ghost, and an incorporeal ghost, you can't pretend for Elliott to be a monk. And so here my idea that Elliott has two relationship at the same time, one with Steve involving his mind and body, and one with Elliott involving his heart; till the day mind, heart and body will devoted to the same man, Elliott for me remains an on the edge man, still waiting for something.
Book Review: Promising New Series
Summary: 5 Stars
For the last several years reading the ongoing installments of Dorien Grey's Dick Hardesty detective series has been one of life's pleasures. Since Hardesty's character arc was ending in a safe domesticity, it was time for a new detective series.
The new protagonist is a contractor who fixes up vintage Chicago apartment buildings for resale at their restored best, not the normal route for taking on murder cases. Elliott Smith comes from a well-to-do local family which finds his willingness to be associated with manual labor incongruous. More helpfully, his brother-in-law, Brad Priebe, is a detective for the Chicago police department. All the pieces are in place for Elliott to act.
The first case comes to him strangely. Elliott has an accident, hurting his head and putting him in the hospital. He become aware of an emerging, independent voice inside, knowing only that it is called `John' and wanting to find out about itself. Elliott is vaguely aware that another person had been present in the emergency room with him and later learns that the person had been shot repeatedly and had died quickly as a `John Doe.' Elliott questions his own sanity and wonders what he can do to help the alien presence, `John'.
The mystery brings in Chicago's Prohibition-era past, today's preservationist ethic, dynastic politics, memory recovery, photographic art, ruthless competition, and revenge. Viewed sympathetically, the final solution isn't that difficult but the need to overcome a series of barriers and a few surprises keep the story exciting.
Elliott has his own life to attend to. His younger sister, Cessy, always has the time to tell him about her life and to press him to settle down. Busy Elliott does try to get a steady boyfriend, first with a social worker and then with a handsome, Hispanic painter artist from Southern California. Elliott's rich parents jet about attending events. And what about `John'? Elliott has a lot of personal work to attend to as well.
This is a promising new series. If it's as good as the Dick Hardesty one, you shouldn't miss it.
Book Review: Wow! I really enjoyed reading this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
"His Name Is John - An Elliott Smith Mystery" is the first book in a great new mystery series written by Dorien Grey. I have been a big fan of Dorien Grey's first (and continuing) mystery series that features Private Investigator Dick Hardesty. The Dream Ender (A Dick Hardesty Mystery)
In this new series, Grey introduces us to Elliott Smith, a Chicago real estate developer who becomes deeply involved in the investigation of the murder of John (Doe), a man Elliott makes a quick connection with as they briefly share a hospital room before John dies. Elliott becomes determined to discover John's identity and find his killer for a whole slew of reasons that sneak up on Elliott and his friends from all directions.
This was a fun book to read but I hesitate to discuss the plot much because you should enjoy this book like I did -- not knowing what to expect and getting more than you can imagine.
Elliott Smith and his supporting cast of characters enjoy living their lives even as they try to solve the early end of John's life. Elliott's sister Cessy is married to a Chicago Homicide Cop who gives Elliott some valuable assistance. Cessy takes care of their two children but is also determined to get Elliott to settle down and "find the right man." Yes, Elliott is gay, but you don't have to be gay to like Elliott! There is a great mix of characters involved in this story, some nice and others not so nice, but together they will keep you involved to the end. I was up past 3:00 AM because I had to find out who dunnit before I could go to sleep. Warning:This may keep you up for late evenings, too.
I really like Grey's books because even though they always involve a murder, they are not slow, dark or too gloomy. If you love reading a good mystery, meet Elliott Smith -- you will love reading "His Name Is John."
Book Review: Highly original and intriguing supernatural mystery. More Please!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love gay sleuths and have followed Hardesty mystery series for years and Dorien Grey has never failed to deliver a great mystery story. But His Name is John is Dorien's best to date. I finished it in the same day as I was simply caught up by Elliot's intriguing situation from the start (what an amazing beginning) and could not put it down until the last sentence. The plot is highly original, well crafted and layered with suspense and intrigues and the underlying sad tone throughout lend a sense of credibility to the story itself. As for the characters what can I say. I love Elliot Smith's character. Disciplined, dependable, rich and smart, it is almost impossible to get this seemingly ordinary guy to lose his cool. And Elliot does have all his work cut out for him as he ponders about his own sanity as one lingering and persistent spirit refuses to leave him until Elliot helps him out. The supporting characters of Elliot's caring sister, brother-in-law and Elliot's new found artist lover are well developed too. As for the ghost John, he is as much the spirit of the story itself and I find myself liking this tragic character as much as Elliot.
I really have a great time reading this one as each time a layer is peeled away more intrigues and surprises await. As printed on the cover, this is an Elliot Smith mystery which means there is more to come. I hope Dorien Grey delivers soon as I wish to know how it pans out for our hero, his ghost and his artist lover as much as their next mystery. Read this!
Book Review: Exciting debut
Summary: 5 Stars
His Name Is John is an exciting debut of a new series by Dorien Grey featuring Elliott Smith. Elliott is a wealthy, urbane (but down to earth), gay real estate developer. After an accident, Elliott awakens in the hospital and finds himself connected to a ghostly spirit with "amnesia". In this intricately plotted mystery, Elliott attempts to discover the identity of this ghost and who murdered him. Or is Elliott delusional? With a host of well-developed and often humorous secondary characters(including his sister Cessy, Brad his brother-in-law cop, and potential new lover Steve), His Name Is John is reminiscent of the best of Hitchcock films of the 1950's - it questions the nature of reality (and the paranormal), identity and relationships with a mischievous sense of humor. Did I mention there's a heck of a mystery to solve as well? I look forward to the next book in the Elliott Smith series (as well as the next volume in Dorien Grey's Dick hardesty series).