Matt Kile is a former homicide detective, and pardoned ex-con who writes mystery fiction.
A General Whitaker hires Kile to solve an eleven year old murder case - the killing of who was to be his future grand-daughter-in-law.
But I was annoyed by the homage to the detectives writers of the past who I love to read and write better. ( )

Eleven years ago, General Whittaker, now retired from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bought an alibi to keep his grandson, Eddie, out of jail after being charged with the murder of Eddie’s pregnant fiancee. No one else was ever charged in the case. Now, as he nears the end of his life and is thinking about his legacy and his estate, he wants to know if Eddie actually committed the crime. He hires former police officer Matt Kile, currently an ex-con and an author, to investigate the original crime.
THE ORIGINAL ALIBI offers a cast of colorful characters including but not limited to Matt’s all-around-assistant Axel, the general’s daughter Karen, and his butler, Charles. Eddie, who generally keeps his distance from the family, is a self-centered hedonist. Thirty-five-year-old Karen, who is extremely attentive and devoted to her father, is described by a quote from Count Tallyrand “In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.”
Matt’s investigation leads him to several possible perpetrators and motives on a well-scripted plot.
David Bishop has a delightful way with words. Some of my favorite descriptions are:
“His ears reached out from his head like they were expected to catch fly balls rather than words.”
“The general ran a hand through his thin pepper-colored hair, which each day was surrendering more of its territory to salt-colored hair.” “Before six, the sun started sliding into the room, doing its thing, the way cream softens black coffee.”
He writes about the way his view of his parents changed as he grew. Their original perfection is replaced by anger at them letting him down and turning to other teens for knowledge. “ By the age of sixteen, Mom and Dad’s image was totally tarnished and Hoppy (referring to his Hopalong Cassidy lunch box in elementary school) was out of my life except for watching him on TV.”
He portrays the General as a Law-and-Order type – “America has become much too soft. We need more swift justice....There is a certain discipline society surrendered when we gave up the immediate effectiveness of firing squads and public hangings.” and wonders “Why is it us cops lead the league in divorce, alcoholism, and suicide?...[We] begin to think everybody’s a lowlife.”
In a tribute to authors and book buyers, Matt writes “Today’s book buyers are asked to pay too much because of all the layers that stand between the author and the reader. I’m going to start self-publishing. I’ll use a work-for-hire publisher so I can control my rights to my own books. That way I can set lower prices, make a good living and protect my readers from getting ripped off.”
Even though the characters and plot were somewhat stereotypes, the book was worth reading. I will likely check out David Bishop’s other books.
This book was a free Amazon download. ( )