Fraud, Murder & Mayhem
A plucky trio pursues a treasure in the convivial thriller Fraud, Murder & Mayhem.
In Ed Shiffman’s slow-burn thriller Fraud, Murder & Mayhem, a trio of adventure seekers follows a treasure map.
At a California impound auction, car restoration fans Arnie and Chester win an old Volkswagen camper van. They resist the attempts of a pushy lawyer, Riggs, to get them to sell the van. Then they face a late-night vehicle break-in that Chester interrupts with his shotgun. Torn fabric in the van’s ceiling reveals an old oil-field map with mysterious markings that Chester, his girlfriend Erika, and Arnie are bent on deciphering. Together, they learn about the van’s provenance—and about the possibility that millions of gold coins have been hidden inside abandoned oil wells.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the previous owner of the van, French, panics when Riggs fails to acquire the vehicle. The map is French’s key to paying off a long-overdue drug-deal debt to Jackson. As such, the Americans face a frenetic series of office break-ins, digs in the desert, and a run-in with Australian murderers and thieves in the Cut Toe Gang.
The book assumes a sluggish pace at first, with much of its excitement emerging far into its pages. The Cut Toe Gang, for example, does not materialize until halfway through the text. Further, key pieces of information are repeated without need, including mentions of people’s previous actions and the consequences thereof. Hints of previous adventures between the Americans, who prove adept at sniffing out and exposing insurance fraud, are also included in the tale.
The American trio centers the book, though they are rather ordinary beyond their circumstantial exploits. Erika, an accountant, is their lead investigator, following money movements and red tape around French and his official “death.” Meanwhile, Chester and Arnie plan the desert treasure hunt and a visit to Australia to follow up on French’s whereabouts. Not enough is shared in this volume about their relationships with one other beyond their pursuit of the treasure, including about how Chester and Erika met and stayed together and how Arnie fits into their lives.
French, Jackson, and Riggs are developed in more exciting ways, with their intricate backstories contributing to the book’s building tension. Details about estate planning, trusts, and insurance schemes and swindles undercut these thrills somewhat, though the intricate investigative steps that Erika takes to uncover the map’s mysteries and her resulting discovery of a new case of insurance fraud are fascinating additions. Still, the book runs quite long given the relative simplicity of its central plot, and its denouement, while explosive, is unsurprising.
Fraud, Murder & Mayhem is a lighthearted thriller about a treasure hunt and insurance fraud.
Reviewed by
Peggy Kurkowski
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
