‘Where the Dead Lay’ a solid mystery

  In the genre of private eye fiction, the seamy side of cities such as New York, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles come to mind. Maybe San Francisco.
  David Levien looks at the dark side of Indianapolis in his mystery novel, “Where the Dead Lay,” his second book featuring private detective Frank Behr. Indianapolis? This is an all-American city known for its annual auto race.
  Levien takes the reader behind the scenes and depicts a community with as many issues as any other city coping with an active underworld.
  Behr will never win any awards for his diplomacy, but he is as tough and tenacious as any fictional or real-life detective. In “City of the Sun,” he lets nothing get in his way in searching for the fate of a lost child. In Levien's latest work, he solves he murder of his Brazilian martial arts instructor.
  The detective’s attitude antagonizes just about everyone in his life, including girlfriend Susan Durant. But he does get results. Behr’s investigation leads him into the world of “pea shake” houses, low-rent gambling dens for the poor.
  He also encounters the Schlegels, a redneck family for whom cruelty and dishonesty is a way of life. Levien could have taken the easy way and simply depicted them as evil. Instead, the author takes a deep look at their motivations and psychology. The family is both repulsive and fascinating.
  Levien also explores Behr's complex nature. The author's taut prose and ear for believable dialogue help to make this book a strong mystery novel.