Wildly Crafty

Reviewed for Front Street Reviews

The Only Pure Thing – A Stuart Clay Mystery
By Patrick Hyde
Published by The Beckham Publications Group, Inc.


“Bloodied Ballys don’t prove murder”

Veteran criminal attorney Patrick Hyde’s debut novel introduces us to defense attorney Stuart Clay.  It begins with the discovery of a headless body in a parking lot.  When Cleveland Barnes, a mildly deranged homeless man, is found wearing the dead man’s bloodied Bally loafers, Clay is assigned to convince the court that Barnes is innocent of any crime worse than robbing a corpse.  As he says in his first press conference: “Bloodied Ballys don’t prove murder”

Clay, with the assistance of investigator Cindy Oh, immediately begins to research the backgrounds of both the deceased and the accused.  They soon discover that nothing is as it seems.  Is Barnes really as odd and detached from reality as he seems to be?   What are the New Columbians?  Who is the pretty blond woman that left the club with the victim moments before he became a corpse?  Why does a Mafia Consigliere insist on having a chat with Clay at gunpoint? Clay and Oh find some answers but mostly discover more and more questions. As they attempt to answer everything, they are led under bridges in the dead of night, into conflicts with one of the FBI's most wanted, and on a tour of a vividly depicted sex shop before they finally stumble upon a fatal mis-step.

The author takes the reader on quite a journey through the court systems and seedy underbelly of Washington D.C. in the pages of this book.   His descriptions are very realistic and compelling, and the twist ending is well conceived.  Very noir in style, The Only Pure Thing is reminiscent of an earlier era of crime authors, such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.  The legal jargon was a little distracting, as the reader has to remember or guess at several acronyms and their meaning throughout the story.

Obviously familiar with his setting, the author pulls from his twenty plus years of experience as a criminal and labor lawyer to tell his story.  A nicely put together piece that will hopefully be repeated in additional books featuring protagonist Clay.  This reviewer looks forward to reading any such future endeavors.