Who out there doesn’t like to work puzzles? Dr. Frederick Rhineman loves jigsaw puzzles, so he creates a unique one of his own. I’m sure he must have gone to his grave laughing about the string of events his devious plan would set in motion.
Dr. Rhineman, a brilliant chemist, claims to have developed a chemical formula that is worth millions, probably more, to the one who holds it. That, along with a ten million dollar bonus, is waiting for the person who puts together the puzzle he has made. What is this puzzle? He’s put the address where the prize can be found on a red piece of paper that has been torn into puzzle pieces. And he’s arranged for each piece to be sent to a different person after his death.
What would be your course of action if you received a piece of this puzzle? It wouldn’t do you any good unless you had the rest of the pieces. Oh, did I mention that he only sent these pieces to people he hated?
Their actions put me in mind of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with lots of violence, sex, blood, and death added. Think, everyone who received a piece of the puzzle is trying to get the rest of the pieces.
D.B. Silvis is talented at coming up with a great detective/mystery/thriller story that keeps the reader interested. I wasn’t fond of the detective, Wayde, to begin with, but he did grow on me. There was even a time when I felt kind of bad for him. You’ll understand when you read the story.
Some of the characters are just who and what they appear to be, others not so much. Spies are mixed in amongst them. Deception and trickery run rampant. Secrets are kept.
There are some pretty violent fight and death scenes, but I don’t feel these scenes are gratuitous; I feel they show the desperation and criminal tendencies of those committing them.
With each page I read, the more unputdownable this thrilling and suspenseful book became. A copy of Puzzle of Death was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to read this captivating mystery, I’ve provided an Amazon link for it below.
reading books, flickr
Amazon Link: Puzzle of Death
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Recommended Article – D.B. Silvis Interview – Puzzles, Writing, and Self-Publishing
Favorite Sentences:
Solving puzzles help keep the brain exercised.
I keep running into dead bodies and dead ends.
New Words Learned:
allele frequency – An allele is one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome. An allele frequency is the frequency of occurrence or proportions of different alleles of a particular gene in a given population.
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium – a principle stating that the genetic variation in a population will remain constant from one generation to the next in the absence of disturbing factors. When mating is random in a large population with no disruptive circumstances, the law predicts that both genotype and allele frequencies will remain constant because they are in equilibrium.
https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/hardy-weinberg-equilibrium-122
population genetics – the study of the genetic composition of populations, including distributions and changes in genotype and phenotype frequency in response to the processes of natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow.
https://www.nature.com/subjects/population-genetics
About the Author:
Donahue B. Silvis is an alumnus of the renowned Pasadena Playhouse. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University majoring in film study and creative writing.
As a member of Screen Actors Guild (SAG), he has worked in movies as an actor and screenwriter. D. B. has written six novels, three screenplays, and one illustrated children’s book. Now retired, he continues writing and promoting his novels and screenplays, while residing in Naples, Florida with his wife, Katie.
I’m so glad you enjoyed ‘Puzzle of Death’!