IF I DIE AGAIN: Tim Younkman's Latest Novel Poses Question - Do I Go Back?
October 27, 2013
By: Dave Rogers
People like mysteries, no matter how unusual or bizarre.
Tim Younkman thinking up his next thriller.
Veteran crime reporter Tim Younkman weaves a story of murder and intrigue in two crime-riddled eras on the same streets separated by nearly a century. The protagonist Patrick Quinn must solve not only a new set of murders but must face the dilemma of deciding if he must return to 1929 to solve his own.
In a long career as a police reporter in Muskegon and Bay City, Tim Younkman has probably seen every kind of case.
Now he's writing about them with the perspective of years of actually covering the beat -- something few novelists can claim.
Younkman knows that American readers love a good yarn -- especially one with a twist and one that delves into history.
His latest book, "If I Die Again," begins in Detroit on Black Tuesday, the day the stock market and the Roaring Twenties crashed, and fast-forwards to the crumbling hulk that is the Motor City today.
"People like mysteries, no matter how unusual or bizarre, and merging some mystery with murder and fantastic situations in a truly historic locale makes for a good read," says Younkman. "Some of the most popular authors from Stephen King to Elmore Leonard (the late great), and even going back to Dashiell Hammett, employed the unusual to make a point and entertain."
I won't spoil the book for you with more detail, but here is the plot of another thriller, "Detroit 32: Cadillac Kill:"
"Detroit private investigator Jonathan Raines, an ex-Marine and war veteran, is hired by Hudson Motor Co. executive Willis Ponder to shadow beautiful Eunice Ponder and chronicle her romantic adventures. Surprisingly, Eunice Ponder finds him instead, offering him a sizable sum of money to follow her, too!
"While unconventional, he accepts both proposals and follows her to the opulent new Book Cadillac Hotel where she entices him to stay with her in an empty penthouse apartment on the thirty-second floor. With great internal conflict, Raines declines the invitation, discovers the identity of the man who leases the penthouse, and reports his findings to Willis Ponder.
"The next day, he is told Eunice Ponder has been killed while asleep in the penthouse. Although his job may be over, Raines now wants to find out who killed Eunice Ponder. He returns to the penthouse to find Eunice?s sister, Christine Dehavilland, who is searching for Eunice?s notebook which may contain clues as to why she was killed."
As you can see, Michiganians will find lots of familiar names and places in a Younkman novel. This one, too, is set in the Depression era in gang-infested Detroit, spiced by Prohibition that didn't end until 1933.
This is the first in a Raines series that is available for $2.99 in e-book on amazon and all major book distributors.
Connect with Tim and read his blog at www.timyounkman.com.