Review: BICYCLE SHOP MURDER, Robert Burton Robinson

•  Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 334 KB
• Print Length: 250 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1448610818
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B002BWPZDC
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Greg Tenorly Suspense Series - Book 1. Suspense with a touch of romance. Length: 56,300 words.
Greg Tenorly lives a quiet and lonely life in a small East Texas town, until he is selected as a juror for a murder trial. A beautiful, mysterious redhead befriends him, and seems to have a romantic interest. But is she merely using him to influence the outcome of the trial?
By the end of the first week, three people connected with the case are dead, and Greg is beginning to fear for his own life. He is now convinced that a powerful Dallas attorney is directing the murder spree in his little town. But why? He is determined to find out. But his investigation just might earn him a spot at the top of the hit list.

My take

#1 in the Greg Tenorly suspense series (see full list below).

As the title suggests, the book focusses on the trial of a young black man accused of murdering the owner of a bicycle shop. The victim was elderly but also well thought of in the small community, particularly for the work he did adolescents in repairing their bicycles.

It takes a while to select the jury and the reader becomes aware that someone is trying to rig the jury in order that the accused will be acquitted. How serious this is becomes obvious when first of all a witness and then a juror are found dead, the latter clearly murdered.

Greg Tenorly, part-time music teacher, becomes involved because he is on the list from which the jury is chosen, and then Cynthia, the wife of one of the jurors, comes to him because she is being beaten by her husband.

When the wife of the  original victim phones Greg and tells him the name of the person behind the killings, and then is murdered herself, Greg and Cynthia decide to confront him. So begins a series of bizarre episodes when, among other things, they are followed by a hit man.

The main thing that me reading THE BICYCLE SHOP MURDER was that I wanted to know why the first murder had occurred. I thought the novel was rather unpolished in places and could have done with more editorial help. Some of the scenarios were down right improbable. I can't make up my mind if I want to meet Greg and Cynthia again.

My rating: 2.7

About the Author

After a career in music, Robert Burton Robinson worked as a software engineer, developing applications for the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston for fourteen years. His books include the Greg Tenorly Suspense Series: Bicycle Shop Murder, Hideaway Hospital Murders, Illusion of Luck, and Fly the Rain, the Ginger Lightly Short-Novel Mysteries Series: Sweet Ginger Poison and Ginger Dead House, the first book of the Rebecca Ranghorn Short-Novel Mystery Series: Naked Frame, and two short story collections: 22 Short Stories, and Amateur Investigator.

Robert earned a Bachelor of Music degree and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Sciences from Lamar University, and did graduate music work at University of North Texas.

He loves spending time with family, playing guitar, and watching movies. He has three children and six grandchildren. He and his wife live near Houston, Texas.