Murder in Marin County

Derek M. Wade

Jul 2019 · Rogue Phoenix Press

About this eBook

Jack Brubaker, veteran sailor and private investigator, becomes embroiled in a gruesome Marin County murder case while searching for his missing sister. In his hunt for the murderer, the world weary Brubaker teams up with homicide detective Ellen Jacobs and is aided by a collection of local eccentrics in the San Francisco Bay town of Sausalito. Hired by the victim’s wife, Jack himself becomes the focus of the police investigation as he delves into the murky side of Marin County, complete with trailer parks, meth houses, and Cult compounds. During Jack’s investigation he is forced to revisit the sailing death of his father, while coming to terms with his failed relationship with his sister Lucy.

Ratings and reviews

Murder in Marin County, A Jack Brubaker Novel (You Don't Know Jack / Book 1) by Derek Wade is a murder mystery about a private investigator, Jack Brubaker. If you merge the deductive reasoning ability of a Mike Hammer and the crazy. humous antics of a Martin Riggs, you have private detective Jack Brubaker, who's in his mid-thirties. His detective agency called Brubaker Agency is in Sausalito, California. Add his dog Charley, which is short for Charlene. Brubaker stated: She has long blonde hair and four long legs, and she knows how to use them. Then there is his boat: Suzanne is my boat, the first boat that I have ever owned. She is strong but nimble, stout but graceful. She has a very light helm and easily follows my direction. The reader will be propelled through a maze of harrowing events encompassing murder, danger, a missing woman, a missing husband. The perpetual roller coaster ride of mystery and suspense ends with a satisfying climax. The variety of characters encountered by Brubaker are memorable, incorporating a well-plotted story. The humor of Jack Brubaker enlightens almost every scene. I recommend Murder in Marin County for all genre readers. You won't be disappointed.

Jack Brubaker, Private Investigator, finds himself in big trouble when he wakes up in a woods next to a decomposing body. And this is only the beginning of the funhouse as this complicated and well-plotted who-done-it unfolds. Derek Wade’s debut novel Murder in Marin County is a collision of Robert Crais meets John Steinbeck. This is no hyperbole either. The novel is filled with standard (albeit mostly unpredictable) detective tropes (the hardened police detective antagonist, the first person ironic narrator, gun fights and lots of misdirection); it’s all there in typical genre style. But that is only half of this novel. It’s the other half that makes Mr. Wade’s first novel so memorable. Almost immediately we are immersed in the beautiful, enigmatic Sausalito setting filled with quirky characters and small town marina life. This is where Mr. Wade excels. He is writing in the new Literary Genre style with comfortable, typical detective novel tropes but combining these with more literary techniques. Brubaker is psychologically complex and multi-layered – a gentler, kinder Sam Spade who knows his way around a sailboat as well as the dark alleys of drug dealers. His sidekick, the eccentric, ex-military Dolliver, is good with guns, but is a character pulled right out of Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday or Tortilla Flat. The setting, like the ocean that demands so much attention, is a character in itself. The author tells us he is a sailor, a world traveler, and Brubaker is one as well. Here’s where the novel really finds its footing. The sailing scenes, the marina and coastal life, the metaphors of water and land and finding ones place between – this is what makes for such satisfying reading. Murder in Marin County will satiate your detective novel fix, but will give you what all great stories do: an immersive experience with plot, characters, and setting that stays with you far longer than the last page. I’m looking forward to reading much more from Mr. Wade.

About the author

Derek Wade is an American mystery writer and avid sailor. He grew up in Los Angeles and worked in the television and motion picture industry, the cattle industry and has captained a sailboat around the world. He currently lives in Missouri with his wife and three children.