A book review by JC Sullivan
First time local author Dan Hanson has crafted a murder mystery centered in Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens…or is it an introduction to the Gardens themselves? Actually, he weaves the story between both.
Three friends, DJ Jamieson, Ren Wu and Peggy Powell are involved in an audio/visual project of the Gardens and are lovers of the 254 acres along Martin Luther King Boulevard, on land that had been given to the City of Cleveland by the Late John D. Rockefeller in 1917. MLK Drive, as the Police describe it in their reports, was originally named Liberty Boulevard in honor of Cleveland’s World War One Veterans. It is home to over 30 ethnic heritage gardens and their monuments, statues, fountains, representative flora and trees.
When the body of Angel Annie is discovered in the Hungarian Garden, a series of murders begins a fight between the three amateur sleuths and Reginald Wilson, a local businessman who begins to infuse fear into people via the media in an effort to keep them away from the Gardens. He wants to commercially develop the property and do away with the Gardens. Quite naturally he becomes the prime suspect behind the murders.
Also at stake is the survival of One World Day (https://clevelandoneworldday.org/2020/ ) when thousands of visitors visit the various gardens, booths, food tables, Parade of Flags and many ethnic events within.
Throughout his forty chapters Hanson absorbs us in the ongoing murder investigation and surprising finale.
Visit Murder in the CulturalGardens.com for more information and preview his next series offering, Murder in AsiaTown, featuring the same three colorful sleuths.
Sullivan writes from Northfield Village. His publishing credits are too numerous to mention but include Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine, Irish America Magazine and DD214 Chronicle. He is also a co-host and producer of the Gerry Quinn Irish Radio Show, heard Sudays,
10 – noon, WHK Radio,1420am or on the Internet at whkradio.com.
