Author:  Reginald Buchanan

Publisher:  Llumina Press

ISBN: 1-59526-275-X (hardcover)

           1-59526-286-5 (Paperback)

The following review was contributed by: Jennifer Brown & Click Here To View Jennifer Brown's Reviews

Delivering mail for a living has its drawbacks.  Snarling dogs, cold rainy days, physical aches and pains, demanding bosses, and customers that complain and complain and complain.  All that complaining could drive a carrier to murder.

Reginald Buchanan’s book, THE KILLER POSTMAN, follows Rick and friends at the Marva View Post Office as they struggle through their daily routines.  Sorting mail.  Inspecting their vehicles for safety.  Walking their routes.  And, for one of them, murdering customers.

The detectives at the Marva View Police Department are at a dead end.  People keep turning up murdered in their own homes, the murder weapon – a screwdriver – still sticking out of their ears.  There’s no sign of forced entry, no fingerprints or witnesses to speak of, no apparent reason behind the slayings.  It’s as if the murderer were someone the victims allowed into their homes, someone known and trusted.  Someone as familiar to them as…the mailman.

THE KILLER POSTMAN takes yet another turn when several members of the Marva View community turn up missing without a trace and an unlikely suspect is brought to the attention of the police.  But when the police check out the sinister claims made against the suspect, a customer on Rick’s mail route, a plot more twisted than the police had ever imagined unfolds before them.

Buchanan, a letter carrier himself, holds nothing back in relaying the details behind the intricate work of the postal system.  Within the first thirty pages the reader will have learned plenty about what goes on behind closed doors in a day in the life of a postal worker.  His attention to detail will make the reader’s back ache and fingers numb with sympathy for those mail carriers out there, braving the elements on behalf of getting the mail there on time.

THE KILLER POSTMAN is not without its weaknesses, however, with as many as three to four spelling and/or grammatical errors on any given page throughout.  The reader is left to wonder where the editor was when this book was going to press, as the errors are numerous and blatant, especially toward the end when the mystery is nearing its climax.   

Buchanan seems to struggle with dialogue, his characters continually speaking too formally or in long monologues that sound “speech-ish” rather than casual and conversational.  The opportunity for casual and intimate discourse between lovers or friends or even acquaintances is missed, taking the punch out of the story with characters that are difficult to relate to, as the reader never sees the informal side of them.  Buchanan’s attention to detail can occasionally detract from the book as well, with too many facts making the characters seem robotic and the reading difficult.

What THE KILLER POSTMAN lacks in polish, it makes up for in plot.  The mystery remains a mystery until the very end, with an old-fashioned death- bed confession tying up loose ends neatly.  Buchanan creates a character frighteningly insane and is able to add enough subtlety to throw the reader off of the killer’s trail with not one, but several other “suspects.”

Reginald Buchanan will be a writer to watch for in the future.  With his ability to plot a suspenseful story, a little formal training, editing experience, and lots of practice, he’s likely to be a presence in mystery writing.