Lois Wells Santalo
embellishes character development to a fine art in her novel, Dorothea
in the Mirror: A Jill Szekely Mystery. With extraordinary skill, Santalo brings the reader
into the post-war era of New York, in the predominately Jewish community
comprised of refugees from the Nazi regime takeover of Eastern Europe.
She introduces and describes her characters with the conversational techniques
so ever present in discussing people of that time and place. People then
talked about a person by bringing into the picture their family, their
profession or skill, and their age pursuant to goals of raising a family.
Integrity and honesty of the Jewish immigrants were commonplace
characteristics, and for a talented pianist, Zoltan Szekely to be the prime
suspect of a murder, things didn't add up. However the evidence
did. The unraveling of the mystery leads a path through events and
clandestine motives, a journey including a psychic vision, and brings to life
the sensations of a generation of people scared from the carnage
overseas.
What struck me most
impressively is Lois Santalo's clarity with her characters. Her talent as
an author to bring her people to life, using superbly appropriate dialog,
embellishing each with a sober background of where the person came from, made
me truly believe in the reality of the characters. In fact, at times I
thought she was writing about people she knew and the story was real!
That's how well she carried me into her book. Whereas many novels tend to
rely on action, location, or even sex to maintain interest, I believe Lois
Santalo's depth of character development is truly her forte. Her writing
has more than intelligence; she interlaces wisdom throughout the pages.
In the unpretentious lives of people renting rooms and sharing common areas,
amidst the modesty of working people always on time and respectful of their
roles, people back then barely filled their basic needs however kept their
mental development unrestrained. Never yielding determination and
adhering to their intrinsic values, her characters formed indelible memories in
my mind. This may be the best compliment I can say about a book –
something that makes me very pleased to have had the wonderful opportunity to
get to know Lois Santalo through her writing of her fictional deceased character
Dorothea, and all that followed in the wake of her murder.
For those who love
mysteries, this book is a must. The classical assumptions of a police
investigation are juxtaposed against the unique and unconventional characters
resulting in a true page turner. Clad in a cover photo of a magnifying
glass focusing on a corpse with a toe tag, implying a “Sherlock Holmes” type of
thought provoking mystery, this artfully done work is a polished gem.
Once you then begin to know Lois Wells Santalo, and learn of her cancer
survival and love for writing, you thank heaven for her being able to achieve
such a masterful accomplishment.
