Styx and Stone
James W. Ziskin
Seventh Street Books
trade paper 285 pp
US $15.95 Can $17.00
Amazon Barnes and Noble
ebook $11.99 Kindle  Nook

Styx and Stone is a period mystery set in the first couple of weeks of 1960. The cover of this novel says “An Ellie Stone Mystery”. That’s an indication that this is the first volume of a series. This is a good thing.

Ellie Stone isn’t a private investigator. Rather she’s a journalist, but of the hardboiled variety. She drinks and gets laid as much as her male counterparts in the genre. Where she differs from them is that she doesn’t get into shoot-outs, engage in fisticuffs, or end up being knocked unconscious by a blow to the head.

Ellie and her estranged father are the remaining members of the Stone family. Her mother died of illness a few years back, but not before her brother was killed in a motorcycle accident. Her father is a Dante scholar at Columbia, one of the foremost in the world. Ellie is working as a reporter at a small town newspaper up north.

Ellie gets a call telling her that her father was attacked in his study at home. He’s in a coma, and the prognosis isn’t good. So Ellie returns home to keep vigil beside his bed. What she discovers is the manuscript of his latest book is missing. And one of his colleagues was found dead in his bathtub the day after her father was attacked, having apparently knocked his radio into the tub with him.  Being a good reporter, Ellie begins to ask questions about both the attack on her father and the death of his colleague.

Like all good mysteries, there are a host of suspects along with a number of red herrings. Styx and Stone is a multi-layered mystery, one which goes in some directions that won’t immediately be obvious early on.

Ziskin captures the feel of 1960s New York well, or at least I think he does. I wasn’t there, not having been born yet, but it felt real to me.

The other thing he does well is capture the politics and pettiness in academia, portraying the massive egos and internal political maneuverings that go on. He’s clearly spent some time in academia.  Of course, he had to tone it down some, or no one would believe it.  (My day job is in academia.  The tales I could tell…)

I found the mystery intriguing and the resolution satisfying, even if I didn’t see it coming. All the clues were there. Ellie Stone isn’t a male detective in a dress but a woman who won’t quit until she’s gotten all her questions answered. She has her faults and doubts, and Ziskin brings her to life.

I am curious as to where the next installment of this series will go. Ellie doesn’t live in New York. Ziskin has put enough thought into the characters in the town where she lives that I suspect he intends to use them again. Ellie is building a life for herself there, one that is hers apart from the life she had in New York City.

On the other hand, Detective Sergeant McKeever, the cop assigned to investigate her father’s attack, has the feel of a recurring character. There’s chemistry between him and Ellie, and they certainly develop a bond of some sort. I don’t know if it will develop into a romantic bond or not. McKeever is married. I’m not sure that would stop Ellie if the circumstances were right, but I am sure she would feel guilty about it later. I guess McKeever’s role in future installments of the series will have to remain a mystery for now.  (The author’s website says the next volume, No Stone Unturned, is scheduled for release on June 5.  It appears to take place in the town where Ellie lives, but appearances can be deceiving.)

Styx and Stone is a solid first installment of  a new series of historical mysteries, albeit recent history. Check it out.

I would like to thank Lisa Michalski of Seventh Street Books for the review copy of Styx and Stone.