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Review: When twenty-two-year-old Jason Dumont was seven years old in November 1993, he suffered a mind-numbing tragedy. His mother, Melanie, sometimes known as “Lottie,” was stabbed to death in the Minneapolis hotel room they shared and where she was having sex with a stranger. Since the killer’s knife belonged to Jason’s modelling kit and he was found incoherent but naked and covered in blood, he was the primary suspect, although never convicted much to the chagrin of Detective Lieutenant Dan Arnold. Now, fifteen years later Jason has returned to Minneapolis and the scene of the crime so he and Jennifer Cahill, a specialist in child psychology, can unlock the repressed memories of Jason’s selective traumatic amnesia and determine his guilt or innocence. Raymond John’s thriller, Mix, Match and Murder, follows the psychological analysis of Jason’s case, with side trips into a couple of Cahill’s files for her delinquent clients and encounters with a couple of adults with mental health issues of their own.

With psychological jargon kept to a minimum, John still manages to create an atmosphere of a troubled young man, obsessed with amnesia and troubled with guilt both for what he may have done and for not being able to protect his mother from murder. Extended family relationships are well-developed both for Melanie’s relatives and for her husband, Lawrence’s. And several kin on either side emerge as potential suspects as Jason unravels his skein of disruptive memories with help from Jennifer, prodding from Detective Arnold, and three boxes of his mother’s belongings, her diary, and a long-forgotten plush toy rabbit of his own. Clues are strategically placed and uncovered at just the right time, such as the bloodied knife at the bottom of the stairwell in the hotel Jason is revisiting. There are sufficient historical facts and references to Minneapolis landmarks to flavour the story as well. There’s even an overseas search in French Guiana for some missing evidence. And as the story comes closer to exposing Melanie’s killer, new homicides and near-homicides occur to heighten the tension, including an accident with Jason’s private aircraft.

Although the action-reaction between the characters works for the most part, Jennifer’s willingness to have a sexual relationship with her client, Jason, and immediately declare her love for him is a bit of a stretch, given the potential loss of her license to which she admits is a cause for concern. As a professional therapist, she seems somewhat flighty as well in her daydreaming about, and flirting with, other male characters in the story although to her credit her reference to one of them as having “the personality of a wet tennis shoe” is one of the best lines in the book. Her repartee with her problem-child clients is solid as well and insightful of situations real life psychiatrists might face. Jason’s ambivalence over his guilt is nicely illustrated, too, and his explosions of anger and frustration are believable outcomes even if shattering to Jennifer. Equally credible is the ending, although both the villain of the piece and the hero of the moment come as well-kept surprises.

Mix, Match and Murder follows Raymond John’s earlier book, The Cellini Masterpiece, and is an entertaining, well-constructed psychological thriller.

Special thanks to M. Wayne Cunningham ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for contributing his review of Mix, Match and Murder and to Raymond John for providing an uncorrected proof reader's copy of the book for review.

Review Copyright © 2008 — M. Wayne Cunningham — All Rights Reserved
Reprinted with Permission

Jul. 18th, 2008 | 02:05 pm

Fifteen years ago, Jason Dumant's mother was murdered in her hotel room. The only witness was seven year old Jason, who suffered traumatic amnesia, and still doesn't remember what happened.

The one thing he fears is that maybe he was the one who killed his mother. Why does he think this? The only thing he can remember is being really, really angry with his mother.

Jason has been referred to Jennifer Cahill, a psychologist who specializes in working with troubled teenagers. She used to work in the prison system, and has handled the worst of the worst - pedophiles, murderers, and rapists. She actually thinks that handling teenagers may be harder.

When Jason shows up, she is fascinated by his case, and by Jason. He's younger than she is. But he's also handsome and brilliant and has been admitted to Harvard Medical School in the fall. He just graduated from Ohio State University, but he feels like he must find out what really happened that night.
Otherwise he simply can't continue with his life.

Jason comes from a wealthy family. The Dumants own a huge pharmaceutical company. His father travels a great deal. His mother, Melanie, was from a tiny town in Northern Minnesota where the company owns a long term care facility that also serves as a hospice. Melanie's mother died there. In fact it was on the way to the funeral that Melanie was killed. She and Jason had stopped overnight in Minneapolis on their way to the funeral.

Dan Arnold was the investigating detective on the case. He always suspected that Jason was the killer, and that suspicion cost him his relationship with fellow detective Carrie Flowers. He's happy to open the investigation again, and once Jennifer Cahill becomes involved, he realizes that there were aspects
of the case that were never fully explored.

Soon Jason, Dan, and Jennifer are eyeball deep into the cold case, and there's a lot of information turning up. There's a mysterious former boyfriend of Melanie's - Dylan Hansen - who disappeared into the wilds of South America. There's some hinky goings-on at the long term care facility where Melanie's
mother died, and someone appears to be trying to kill Jason and possibly Jennifer, too.

This book had a run-away train pacing. I was swept up and carried through the story at breakneck speed, and I enjoyed every minute of it.. I liked these people - Dan, Jason, and Jennifer. And I liked the story. It was well-plotted and tightly knit.

This is definitely a book to put on your don't miss list.

Sara Bewley, WP Book Reviews