The Fisher Boy

Anable's murder mystery plays out in the town of Provincetown on Cape Cod, a resort known for its gay visitors. Bostonian Mark Winslow and his comedy improv troupe arrive to play the clubs for the summer. Soon after, a threat is made to the gay community and a homophobic sect invades the town to protest the exhibition of a 1916 nude portrait, THE FISHER BOY. Then a friend of Mark's is murdered right after he and Mark have a very public argument. Naturally, Mark is a suspect. Paul Michael Garcia narrates with a passion for delving into character, relating Mark's thoughts as if they were his own. Garcia creates full-bodied characters that will engage listeners from start to finish. L.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 3, 2008
Ingenious plotting and witty prose lift Anable's distinctive debut, set mainly on Cape Cod. Soon after Bostonian Mark Winslow and his comedy improv troupe arrive in Provincetown for the summer season to play the club scene, someone leaves a dead dog on a prominent socialite's doorstep, which may be a veiled warning to the resort's gay population. Meanwhile, members of a homophobic religious sect known as Christian Soldiers flood the town during an exhibition of the work of (fictional) painter Thomas Royall, whose 1916 nude portrait, The Fisher Boy
, has fascinated Mark since childhood. When Mark's old prep school friend, Ian Drummond, has his throat slashed late one night on a jetty, Mark fears he may be a suspect in the murder because the two had a very public spat at a club shortly before. Mark's search for Ian's killer leads him to a sinister Nordic-style cult at the site of Royall's failed artist colony on the Cape. A profusion of diverting red herrings and a clever twist involving Mark's parentage help keep the suspense high through to the surprising conclusion.