When an elderly friend of Thomas Martindale is found murdered, the vacationing journalism professor and amateur sleuth turns to a manuscript—a WWII memoir of her youth in occupied France—that the woman had given him. Murder at Yaquina Head, journalist Ron Lovell’s debut mystery, follows the sardonic Martindale as he prowls the Oregon coast on the trail of former Nazis.
New Mysteries, Booklist, April 1, 2002
Former journalism professor and Oregon native Lovell debuts a series featuring an Oregonian journalism professor. Not much of a stretch, but Lovell’s firsthand knowledge lends an air of credibility to the story and the setting. Tom Martindale has just begun his summer vacation on the Oregon coast when his charming French professor friend, Simone Godard, asks him to read her manuscript. She confides in Tom that her life may be in danger, but she’s murdered before she can elaborate. Tom looks for clues in the manuscript, which details Simone’s participation in the French Resistance movement during World War II. Although Martindale at times underestimates the reader’s detecting ability by dropping obvious plot hints, he crafts a convincing story peppered with absorbing details about World War II. Much of the fun here is reading Simone’s gripping memoir over Tom’s shoulder. –Jenny McLarin
New Mysteries, Library Journal, April 1, 2002
Oregon University teacher Thomas Martindale touches base with an old friend, retired French professor Simone Godard, who thinks she’s being followed. After Simone gives him a story to read about her involvement in the French Resistance, she is murdered at a nearby lighthouse. Martindale finds the body, and the retarded son of Simone’s housekeeper is accused. Martindale sets out to find the real murderer—with a little assist from of former lover in the state police. This predictable first novel follows a well-worn path to a well-known conclusion. An optional purchase for local collections.
“Lies an endearing trait for new sleuth,” Books & Authors Section, The Denver Post, June 23, 2002
Partway through Murder at Yaquina Head,” Thomas Martindale observes, “I lied easily these days.” It’s not a flattering admission for an investigative reporter and Oregon State University journalism professor. But it’s an endearing trait for a new sleuth. “Once in a while I lie so outrageously, I get red in the face,” Martindale says. “I guess it’s my conscience warning my mind to watch its step.”
Urbane and quirky, Martindale leaves the university for a summer of writing and relaxing on the Oregon coast. But then Simone, an old friend and retired colleague, gives him a manuscript about her World War II experience working in the French underground. Just a day later, Simone is fond dead in the Yaquina Head lighthouse, and Martindale’s knack for getting mixed up in police business kicks in.
Simone’s manuscript, of course, holds incriminating evidence, primarily against two Germans. One is a fellow professor, his eyes penetrating as lasers. Having just finished Simone’s reminiscences, Martindale knows that the man, perfectly described in the manuscript, could be related to a sinister German officer the dead woman encountered during the war.
But there are other suspects. The incompetent local sheriff fingers Adam, a developmentally disabled man, who is the son of Simone’s housekeeper. There is Simone’s friend, Connie, who is supposed to have more manuscript pages, but drops off the list of suspects when she, too, is murdered while preparing for an assignation with Martindale.
Another former university employee, Charles, blames Martindale for getting him fired during some sort of mysterious undertaking in the past. He stalks the journalism professor with chilling consequences. Add to them an undertaker and a lawyer, always a good suspect. Martindale tried to sort it out with the help of Angela, who heads security at the university, and Nate, an Oregon State policeman.
Mixed with details of the lighthouse, the Oregon coast, and an aquarium, this is all good stuff for a mystery. What really makes it a good read, however, is the self-effacing Martindale, a delightful if sometimes exasperating sleuth who is far too nosy for his own good. He blithely enters homes in search of evidence, ignoring not only danger but the legality of breaking and entering. He never seems to understand that he could be in danger. And he ignores his promises to angels and Nate that he will leave crime solving to them.
Martindale gets into trouble not only with his actions but also with his clever lines, for instance, baiting the sheriff with remarks about the lawman’s past in competence, Martindale tries to restrain himself, saying, “I made a mental note to behave. I’d have to save to wise-ass, smart-mouth side of myself for the classroom.” But, of course, he doesn’t, and the book is richer for it.
Martinale is the alter ego of Ron Lovell, a onetime national newsmagazine correspondent in Denver and an Oregon State University professor for 24 years. And, with any luck, Lovell will make Murder at Yaquina Head the first in a series of Thomas Martindale mysteries. –Sandra Dallas
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf, The Bookwatch, July 2002
Set on the windswept Oregon coast and capably written by Oregon resident Ron Lovell, Murder at Yaquina Head is the riveting story of journalism professor Thomas Martindale, a man who becomes drawn into a tangle of deceit and death when his friend’s life is endangered and he discovers a murdered body. Wry, thoughtful, moody, and structured around a secret that reaches back to the era of World War II, Murder at Yaquina Head is a 183 page, gripping mystery which is highly recommended for mystery buffs and would make a welcome and appreciated addition to any community library.
“A Good Summer Read,” The Oregon Lighthouse News, November 2002
Lighthouse Society members will find familiar scenes and details of the Oregon coast in Ron Lovell’s Murder at Yaquina Head. Lovell, a resident of Gleneden Beach, knows the area but does relocate a few places for the convenience of the story line. Like the central character, Thomas Martindale, Lovell has been a magazine reporter and taught journalism and English at Oregon State University. He has published a dozen journalism and photography textbooks, but this, his first published murder mystery, comes after retirement from teaching. Here the similarity between central character and writer ends.
In Murder at Yaquina Head, Martindale leaves campus for his coastal cottage to begin summer vacation. He is invited to brunch at the home of retired French professor Simone Godard. As he takes his leave, Simone gives him a manuscript she has written abut the French Resistance during World War II and tells him she thinks someone may kill her for what she has written. We read Simone’s gripping memoir along with Tom. When her body is found on the beach, Martindale vows to find her killer, but he must avoid being a suspect himself as he unravels the mystery.
While Murder at Yaquina Head goes into a second printing, Lovell has signed a second contract with publisher Sunstone Press of Santa Fe, New Mexico to bring out Dead Whales Tell No Tales featuring Thomas Martindale. A new text by Lovell about photography and captions, came out in July. –Caroline Wilkins