What the Fly Saw by Frankie Y. Bailey Presents Unsolvable Mystery Even If The Fly Was There...

Who killed Cock Robin?

I, said the Sparrow

With my bow and arrow

I killed Cock Robin.

Who saw him die?

I, said the Fly

With my little eye

I saw him die.

--"The Death and Burial of Cock robin"

~~~

"Just got some news," Dole said. "Lisa Nichols was found dead in her room at the psychiatric facility."

"Lisa Nichols?" McCabe said, "How could she be dead?"

"Suicide. Apparently she was stockpiling her medication or gained access to medication."

"How could she gain access to medication?" Baxter said. "Don't they keep their pills locked up?"

"However she did it," Dole said, "she's dead."

McCabe's gaze met Baxter's. They had worked their butts off on the serial killer case...

~~~

"The skeleton's name is 'Ernie,'
Malone said. "According to the
embalmer, Ernie usually stands
right here by the table..."
"So the vic pulled our friend Ernie
down with him as he was falling...
~~~

The funeral director's name was Kevin Novak. His body was in the basement.

McCabe paused in mid-strike. "Hi Rachel,"...He was like this when he was found?"

"According to the embalmer who found him," Rachel Malone said...

McCabe squatted down for a better look at the entangled limbs of the funeral director, who had an arrow protruding from his chest, and the human skeleton he was clutching. The skeleton grinned up at them...

"Jeff, can you walk us through this?"

"Sure." He pointed toward the other end of the room where a target was set up. "The vic was down there by the target when he was apparently--lab results pending--shot with this bow." He indicated the green-and-brown camouflaged bow on the floor not far from the victim's body..."So, he's shot with an arrow and dying and instead of trying to get to his ORB to get help," McCabe said, "he goes to the sink and pours something out?"

"We haven't found his ORB...

~~~

What the Fly Saw

By Frankie Y. Bailey

I don't care what you say about what that Fly saw! He was not telling anybody else! I know, because even though he's been buzzing around, I didn't have a clue about whodunit!

Of course, you know what that means! I loved the book! Bailey started this series with The Red Queen Dies (click on the title to read my review before you leave.) This one opens some issues that will allow readers to look forward to more in future books...

I gather because the author sets the novel into a parallel universe, it becomes part sci-fi. Seriously, this is one of the best mysteries I've read and having a little fun with technological scifi just doesn't make it less... I enjoyed the imaginative additions but found little to actually consider the setting as other than earth...some time when a fly can be easily buzzing and annoying all of us... even if the author finds them fascinating... Of course, it's the big black flies that fly in my area, but I don't think having red eyes would change my opinion...LOL

Soooo, anyway, McCabe is not quite ready to close out her case against Lisa Nichols, even though she has apparently committed suicide and the case has been officially closed...

Especially when the very next case assigned to her is the assumed murder of Kevin Novak, a funeral director. The funeral director, in fact, who had received a call from the office of Lisa's former lover, about arranging her funeral...

Kevin Novak, as a funeral director, was well respected in the community and was dedicated to his family and church. Naturally they were the first people to be interviewed.  The last event he had attended was for Olive's celebration of life. She was 85 but, fully intending to enjoy her last large appearance, had thrown her own party.

Olive's sharp gaze fastened on Kevin. "And since
you already know you're going to get to bury me
when I'm dead, you can relax and enjoy the party."
"I always enjoy your parties, Olive," Kevin said.
"Come with me," she said. "There's someone
I want you to meet."
"How have you been?" she asked him.
"Fine," Kevin said. "Never better."
"Don't give me that. Anyone who knows you
can tell you're still taking Bob's death hard."
Having your best friend collapse with a heart
attack while you're beating him at tennis, and
then die on the operating table, can have that
effect. It's been over four months since it
happened. You should be coping with it by now."
"I am coping with it."
"You're still off-kilter. Not your usual self.
That's why I want you to meet Luanne
Woodward."
"Luanne? That medium or spiritualist of
whatever she calls herself that you found
somewhere?...I don't believe in that hocus-pocus."
"I don't believe in most of it, either...But, as I
said, Luanne's interesting. I invited her today
so you could meet her."
"And so what?" he said in belated response to
Olive. "Sign up for her next seance?"
"That might not be a bad idea. Spiritual
therapy, so to speak."
"I get my spiritual therapy at church on
Sunday from our inister. You might
consider doing the same."
"At my age, I take what I need from
wherever I happen to find it. And the fact
you're going all righteous on me instead of
laughing about my eccentricities, as you
like to call them, proves you're off-kilter.
We need to get you put to right."
~~~

Besides the one fly who had hidden on the
ceiling, ...Olive's guest list for this celebration
of her life reflected her eccentricities. An
odd assortment of guests: old friends,
relatives, church members and business
associates, and other people who tickled
Olive's fancy or touched her big heart. But
they had all cleaned up and put on their
best in Olive's honor...
~~~

When they finally found Luanne...the fly watched closely...
"Luanne," Olive said to the plump, blond woman sipping
from a champagne glass as she observed the people around
her. "I'd like you to meet Kevin Novak, the friend of mine
I was telling you about."

"I'm so happy to meet you, Mr. Novak," she said in a
southern drawl that suited her pleasant, round face. Her
blue gaze met and held his.
If he believed in such things, Kevin would have sworn
she'd looked past his tailored suit and crisp white shirt
straight into his tarnished soul. He took a step back, and
reached out to steady Olive, who hand rested on his arm.
"Sorry, Olive," he said. "I just remembered something
I need to do."
Luanne Woodward said, "It's all right, Kevin, honey.
You don't have to run away from me."
But he did, Kevin thought. He had to run as fast as he
could.
!!!

And before long, the weather had snowed everybody in and placed many places into a state of emergency. Kevin left that night, however. Even with his wife begging him to stay inside, he had felt somebody should always stay when they had bodies in the morgue...besides the fly who watched what happened...

His assistant, the embalmer, found him the next morning, killed by bow and arrow... Have to say this was a first murder investigation by bow for me--and it turned out that many individuals within the church, which hosted two different archery clubs--had to be interviewed.

Once in a while, the book throws in a flashback into what was happening with Lisa Nichols, who was now in a psychiatric facility awaiting trial. She was upset with herself--a slip of the tongue because she was angry. The rest were gone, if she had gotten rid of Detective Hannah McCabe, everything would have been fine. Her fiancee, Ted Thornton, was bewitched with her and had hired lawyers who might even get her off... That was before a disruption at the facility allowed a nurse to slip her a note... The fly watched what happened soon after...

She had gotten out of the hospital...dead... The case for her victims was closed. Nobody would pay for the three she had murdered...

And then the two cases merged in a single way... They discovered that Ted Thornton's assistant had placed a phone call to Kevin Novak. It was obvious to everybody that Thornton was handling her funeral... and had Novak contacted for this reason...

Sarah Novak and her two children were first to be
involved in the investigation, of course. Novak was shocked and not quite coherent that first time. Her pastor and a church counselor were both there with her.  Wyatt was leader of a very large church and had refused to share about any discussions he'd had with Novak. So, too, was Jonathan Burdett, who, as a psychiatrist, was also treating Novak. Admittedly, McCabe was having trouble understanding why a psychiatrist was on staff within the church, who was, of course, quoting privilege of confidentiality regarding his time with Novak...

Mostly normal people who just happened to be attending one large church, right? NOT! Lots of secrets and unwillingness to share with the police... And McCabe wasn't even sure of her own partner who seemed to be secretive at times...

Just as I loved Taraji Henson, in one of my favorite TV programs, Person of Interest, I easily slid her into the role of McCabe in Frankie Bailey's series! She's wonderful! McCabe is just as wonderful as a series main character! If you haven't started this series yet, I highly recommend you do so! It's strong on police procedure, high in mystery and, especially, suspense! Bailey presents us with a solid page-turner that even, this time, forced me to wait until she revealed the fascinating final climax to know exactly who did what to whom...and why! Which is just as important as the who. This time you'll have so many possibilities, with motive, it's almost pick-and-choose. Enjoy! I know you will!

And don't even think to expect a hint from that damn Fly!

A Mystery Fan Must-Read in my opinion...

GABixlerReviews

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor at UAlbany (SUNY). She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of a number of non-fiction books. She is the 2010 recipient of the George N. Dove Award for her research on mystery and crime fiction. She has been nominated for several other awards, including the Edgar, Agatha, and Anthony, and is the winner of a Macavity Award for African American Mystery Writers (2008). She has five books and two published short stories in a mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart. One of the short stories (“In Her Fashion”) was published in the July 2014 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. The Red Queen Dies (Minotaur Books, September 2013) was the first book in a near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe. The second book in the series, What the Fly Saw is due out in March 2015. Frankie is a former Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America and a past president of Sisters in Crime.

For additional information about Frankie’s scholarly research and writing, please see her curriculum vitae on the University at Albany, School of Criminal Justice website.

Spending the Weekend with Frankie Bailey - Review of What The Fly Saw - Tomorrow!

Hitchcock, 

Harry, and Me

By Frankie Y. Bailey

            In my mind, I associate cats with Alfred Hitchcock. Maybe that’s because until last year, in late October, I had never owned a cat as an adult and I barely remember the cat my family had briefly when I was a child. We lived outside the city (not really country but enough room for front and back yards). The dogs – my father’s hound or two for hunting and the dogs I had as pets – passed through our lives, leaving their stories to be told in fond memory. But cats . . . even though I wanted to be a vet, I was drawn to dogs.

When I was a grad student, I volunteered as a feeder/cleaner at a no-kill shelter. I thought when I volunteered that the shelter had dogs (a failure to do my research). Having signed on as a volunteer, I stayed for a while. This experience gave me a chance to observe cats up close. Watching them coming toward me as I opened the door did make me feel as if I were in the middle of a Hitchcock movie. But I learned to appreciate their beauty and grace and varied personalities. Still – given my decades-long lack of interest in becoming a cat owner, I am astonished that I now have a large Maine Coon mix named Harry (formerly Tyson) in my life.

            Harry has green eyes. He sometimes sits hunched under a bright yellow coffee table watching my every move with an unblinking stare. At first, I found that unsettling – until I realized he was watching me to see if I was heading toward the kitchen counter where his dry food is kept or about to sit down in my chair at the dining room table and provide him with the opportunity to settle into my lap for a nap. Harry is an affectionate cat -- a “love bug” (quoting his sitter) of a cat.  But he still occasionally makes me think of a Hitchcock movie – like those moments when I’m talking to him and turn to see he has disappeared or when I turn and he is right behind me. Or those moments when we are playing with his stuffed bird on a pole and he suddenly hisses and I remember that he is a predator and that he is not just admiring those real birds when he sits watching them through the window with his ears forward and his tail twitching.

Having thought so much about cats and Hitchcock, I felt compelled 

the other day to go back and see if there really are cats in Hitchcock

films. I imagined them moving through the shadows and being 

stroked by Hitchcock characters.

Norman Bates should have had a cat. But he didn’t. Bates preferred stuffing small birds for display. And there is that wonderful final scene at the end of Psycho (1960) when Norman (sitting wrapped in a blanket a police officer has brought him) is thinking in his “Mother’s voice” about an insect: “I’m not even gonna swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They’ll see. They’ll see and they’ll know. And they’ll say, ‘Why she wouldn’t even harm a fly.’”

            Of course, as you might guess from my title, What the Fly Saw, I am also fascinated by flies and their little eyes. But getting back to Hitchcock and cats. . .as I said, I went in search of cats in Hitchcock films. I was sure they must be there. And it’s possible that if I should spend more time on this, they will turn up. After all, Tippi Hedren, star of Hitchcock’s horror movie, The Birds (1963),

has a sanctuary for abused and mistreated exotic cats. But in that movie, when Hitchcock makes his onscreen cameo, he is walking two of his own Sealyham Terriers. 

There is a well-known episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Miss Paisley’s Cat,” about a lonely spinster who kills the local bookie who killed, Stanley, the tough alley cat that she had taken in. And, of course, in To Catch a Thief (1955), Hitchcock’s romantic thriller set on the Rivera, Cary Grant’s
debonair retired jewel thief, is known as “The Cat.” But the television episode and the movie were based on a short story and novel, respectively.

            In fact, dogs outnumber cats in Hitchcock movies. Among the Hitchcock films in which a dog or dogs appear:  The 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Strangers on the Train, Rebecca, Saboteur, Rear Window, and The Birds. Of course, this had something to do with the works on which Hitchcock based these films. As writers and readers know, dogs in crime fiction work well as “characters” because they can disrupt any scene by bounding into it. Dogs can bark and attract attention. Or, not bark, and indicate the culprit might have been known to them. Dog can be taken for walks. Dogs dig things up. If you’re making a film, it’s must be easier to get a dog (than an independent-minded cat) to take direction. And, let’s face it, a cat in a Hitchcock film would be overkill. Or, at least, this is what Harry is 

suggesting as he stares up at me as I try to type while he stretches in my lap.

Certainly, the absence of cats in Hitchcock films should not be taken as an indication that he preferred dogs -- any more than the fact that my protagonist Hannah McCabe adopts a dog rather than a cat should be perceived as a preference on my part for canines. After all, I do have cats in scenes in both McCabe books. Obviously, Harry is suggesting with his stare, I have always had a latent admiration and deep respect for cats. When he is sure that I understand this, we can discuss adding a dog – the dog of his choice – to our household.

A couple of Vids to allow you to meet the Author:

Frankie, I'm having such fun having you visit this weekend! I hope you don't 

mind that your article topic kinda "set me off" to match your research... I wasn't sure what Hitchcock thought about it... What about you?! LOL