Bill Hopkins publishes fifth mystery, 'Dishonest Corpse'

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Fans of Rosswell Carew, the judge who gets involved with police investigations to the chagrin of the police, is back -- but he's no longer a judge.

Fans of local author Bill Hopkins' mysteries will be glad to know Carew is back, this time as a private detective in "Dishonest Corpse." The character and his wife, Tina, a former sheriff's deputy, have opened their own private investigation agency in a former telephone office in Cape Girardeau, and their first few cases lead them to the same kind of mayhem that got Carew kicked off the bench in the previous book.

There is a connection between the first few cases the two take on, and they all lead the pair to their nemesis, Nathaniel Dahlbert. The pair thought Dahlbert was locked up in prison, and with his escape grows their desire, not so much to bring him to justice, but to kill him.

For the reader, it may be conflicting to understand why two people employed in law enforcement and the administration of justice are desperate to kill another person.

"They are vigilantes," Hopkins explained. "They and their cohorts. In one book, Tina said when you are a vigilante, you always have to be 100 percent right. They think the cops are not doing their job."

Hopkins said he enjoys writing "when the lines between good and bad are blurred."

He also enjoys the interaction among his characters, some of whom appear throughout the series. One might wonder what kind of mind creates a Nathaniel Dahlbert, but no one ever forgets him.

"People don't realize these characters come out of my head," he said. "Sherlock Holmes did some strange things, too. I want my characters to stand out. I like people who stand out; I make them odd."

Characters are memorable, humor throughout the book is subtle, and the pace is fast-moving. Some readers have told Hopkins they find his books scary. Like his other Rosswell Carew books, "Dishonest Corpse" has enough plot twists to make a reader dizzy.

Hopkins' sixth book is in the works. He won't reveal much, except to say "there will be some major changes in Rosswell's world." And this time, much of the plot will take place around the Diversion Channel off the Mississippi River. Hopkins keeps Carew lurking around Cape Girardeau and the river, with occasional forays into Bollinger County.

Readers will have to wait to find out what the next book will be called. And if readers want to know what a dishonest corpse is, they'll just have to read the book.