| Felton Edwards may have been 'taller than God,' but when his long frame turns up in Hope, South Dakota's sandpit, he's just deader than dirt. While none of the locals are surprised that the womanizing Edwards finally got his face blown off, they do wonder why Hope's less-than-favorite son is back in town after 15 years away--even if it's in the form of a corpse. Lucky for Hope (and this being the Great Depression, luck's been hard to come by), Carl Wilcox, the region's ace crime-solving hobo, just happens to be in town doing a little sign painting. Anxious to protect the town's peaceful reputation and somewhat suspicious of his sheriff's motives, Hope's mayor persuades the High Plains drifter to stick his oft-broken nose into Edwards's past--and, preferably, to ferret out a killer of the nonresident variety. As Wilcox follows Edwards's trail through the Depression-ravaged region, he discovers a string of bitter lovers, cuckolded husbands, and disgruntled business partners, none of them too broken up that the state's tallest man has been rendered permanently prone. Ninth in the Carl Wilcox Mystery series, The Man Who Was Taller Than God stands as Harold Adams's most successful employment of his durable character and formula, and received the 1993 Shamus Award in recognition. Between rolling cigarettes and ingratiating his way into numerous free meals, Wilcox narrates his shambling search for Edwards's killer in a laconic yet playful voice. If the book's plot occasionally lacks urgency, Wilcox's likeable storytelling charms the reader through any slow spots. --Shane Farmer |
