Book Review: Downstate Illinois
Downstate Illinois. Wesley Payton. Independently Published, August 28, 2019, Trade Paperback and E-book, 205 pages.
Reviewed by Ed Sarna.
Downstate Illinois by Wesley Payton is a mystery and love story populated with thought-provoking ideas and clever wordplay. Weston Payley, the protagonist of the story, is the author of a series of novels, including Sawbones Spinster, Sleuthing Spinster, and Skywriting Spinster. He is not to be confused with Wesley Payton, the author of this book, who has written Darkling Spinsterand Darkling Spinster No More.
The story begins when Weston Payley relocates from his longtime home of Chicago to a small town in the middle of Illinois, where he summered as a boy.
When people comment on his being an author of romance novels, he likes to reply, “Often people mistake my books for romance novels because they each have the word spinster in the title, but I think of them more as adventure stories.” He has left the hustle of the city for the lure of simple country life, but as you might expect, life turns out to be anything but simple. He soon discovers the town is not the town of his memories, which is now struggling with addiction, poverty, and science run amok. Shortly after moving to town, Weston falls in love with Rebecca, a single mother in her mid-thirties, locks horns with a member of the local police who also has designs on Rebecca, and is drawn into the investigation of a suspicious death. It’s not long before he discovers the suspicious death is only the tip of the iceberg.
Anyone who has spent time in a small town will appreciate the way everyone knows what everyone else does, almost before they do it. The characters are well-defined and a lot of fun. The author’s descriptions are spot on, as when he describes someone he has just met with: “. . . somehow managing to look down his nose at us while staring up at us from his seated position.” The crisp dialogue between Weston and Rebecca is reminiscent of Nick and Nora Charles from Dashiell Hammett’s novel The Thin Man. The relationship between Weston and Slim, the cop with designs on Rebecca, progresses from antagonism to acceptance to mutual respect to something close to friendship. The plot moves at a brisk pace, aided by the sharp dialogue, engaging characters, and a wild premise that, if you think about it in today’s context, doesn’t seem far-fetched. I highly recommend Downstate Illinois. The ending left me hoping a sequel or possible series is in the works. I’d like to see where these characters go from here, how Weston fits into the town, and mostly, I’d like to listen in on more of the dialogue between Weston and Rebecca.