Murder in Exile

The Sunday New York Times Book Review of MURDER IN EXILE (May 21, 2006):The fully dimensional world of a long-running series is harder to find in a first mystery. There's nothing tentative, though, about Vincent H. O'Neil's debut novel, MURDER IN EXILE, which drops an engaging young sleuth into a sleepy little burg in the Florida Panhandle and hands him a tough case to cut his teeth on. Frank Cole landed in the coyly named town of Exile when his computer company up North went bankrupt and a nasty judge attached his future earnings. Frank is keeping his head down doing background checks for an insurance company when his investigation of a hit-and-run accident uncovers evidence of corporate corruption. Although you'd never guess it from the silly jacket art that makes his book look like an absurdist Carl Hiaasen knockoff, O'Neil is a polished storyteller with a breezy style and some interesting things to say about abandoned sons and their surrogate fathers. (Article by Marilyn Stasio)Winner of the 2005 Malice Domestic Award, MURDER IN EXILE was followed by REDUCED CIRCUMSTANCES, EXILE TRUST, and CONTEST OF WILLS in the Exile series. Vincent O'Neil has also written the theater-themed mystery DEATH TROUPE, and two horror novels featuring his first female protagonist Angela "Ree" Morse, INTERLANDS and DENIZENS.Writing as Henry V. O'Neil, he has authored the five-book military science fiction Sim War series with HarperCollins. The complete series consists of GLORY MAIN, ORPHAN BRIGADE, DIRE STEPS, CHOP LINE, and LIVE ECHOES.