The Dead Stroll

The life of a homicide cop is death with many causes: death for love, death for
hate, death for revenge, death for money or death for no reason at all. The
homicide cop's worst nightmare is death by a serial killer with a plan. This gritty
and fast moving story of a search for such a killer is a realistic portrayal of homicide
investigation written by a former homicide detective who has been there.

I was a homicide investigator during the time frame of this novel and I am
impressed with the detail and account of both the technical and routine phases
of murder investigations as we did them ''back in the day.''

Gerald R. Beavers
Former Chief of Police, Asheville, North Carolina and Topeka, Kansas

A fresh homicide on the street. Grab your pen and notebook and get to the
scene. Beat the bushes. Talk to the street cops who show up. Talk to the
street people whose trust you have developed over the years - bartenders,
prostitutes, crooks, store owners.

The drums are beating in the neighborhood. People are talking. Get the right
information and you solve the case. No DNA; no C. S. I.; no cell phones; no online
information sources. No psychological profi les other than the knowledge
and memory of sharp cops. No scientifi c interrogation techniques other than
experience and knowledge of human nature. We found the killers and we put
them away.
This is the way it was in the late 1960's and Ed Mercer captures the tableau
perfectly. The Dead Stroll is a nostalgia trip for those of us who walked the
walk and talked the talk in those days and a historical document for those
cops currently working homicides - an authentic depiction of how it was. The
scenes of riot and turmoil in the streets, the pressures of external and internal
politics, the cops' wit and crisp dialogue are all vivid and real.