In 2003, the Shoofly Pie introduced an intriguing and unique detective: forensic entomologist Nick Polchak. So popular did Polchak become that author Tim Downs has now published five Bug Man novels. And now for the first time: the first two Bug Man novels under one cover. Within minutes of a murder, the first fly arrives at the scene. Soon there are hundreds, then thousands, and each one knows … Soon there are hundreds, then thousands, and each one knows the victim’s story…
Thirty-year-old Kathryn Guilford turns to Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, to help her learn the truth about the apparent suicide of her longtime friend and onetime suitor. Polchak introduces her to a mysterious world of blood-seeking flies and flesh-eating beetles. But there’s a problem…
Kathryn Guilford has a pathological fear of insects.
Now she must confront her darkest fears to unearth a decade-long conspiracy that threatens to turn her entire world upside down.
Chop Shop
Young Dr. Riley McKay has worked hard toward her career in pathology. But her promising future is threatened when suspicious activities — bungled autopsies, concealed evidence, and unexplained wounds — incriminate her supervising pathologist at the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office in Pittsburgh, Dr. Nathan Lassiter. When Riley is ignored by her seniors and threatened by Dr. Lassiter, she turns in desperation to Dr. Nick Polchak, the Bug Man, to help her uncover the truth.
From a handful of tiny maggots, Nick and Riley begin to unearth the facts…
The flies on the wall can talk.
Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak is listening.
more
REVIEW FOR CHOP SHOP IS FIRST. SHOO FLY PIE FOLLOWS
5 Stars for CHOP SHOP, #2 in The Bugman suspense novel series by Tim Downs. This is a quirky and weird, forensic science-based suspense series and was a reread for me. CHOP SHOP is a Clean novel suitable for most ages.
MY RATING GUIDE: 1= dnf/What was that?; 2= Nope, not for me; 3= This was okay/cute; 3.5= I enjoyed it; 4= I LIKED IT A LOT; 5= I Loved it, it was great! (I rarely give 5 Stars).
CHOP SHOP is not a Cozy Mystery. It’s a very unique Suspense novel featuring Dr Nick Polchak/MMC (perhaps in his late thirties), a brilliant forensic entomologist and entomology professor at North Caroline State University. He is considered an expert in his field, assisting law enforcement in excess of 72 cases in 13 different countries but due to his lack of social niceties and interest, Nick lacks a personal life. I find novels featuring main characters with unusual careers utterly fascinating and Nick is no exception.
May 2003, Pittsburgh. Dr Riley McKay/FMC, a fellow at Allegheny county coroner office, requests Nick (who she has never met before) to investigate a dead body currently lying in her morgue. Dr McKay has reason to question her college and the written Cause of Death. Her suspicions raise Nick’s interest, so he begins to dig in his very unique fashion. Neither Dr McKay nor Dr Polchak anticipate the terrible consequences of their private investigation.
The Bugman series is definitely quirky and weird. Readers who enjoy character driven novels, suspense novels, or can enjoy a novel without mandatory romance with a Sweet HEA might want to check this series out. I find them fascinating. CHOP SHOP is bk#2 in the Bugman series. SHOO FLY PIE, #1; LESS THAN DEAD, #3; FIRST THE DEAD, #4; ENDS OF THE EARTH, #5; NICK OF TIME, #6.
READER CAUTIONS – Suitable for readers of Suspense or Mysteries, IMO, 16yrs and up.
VIOLENCE – This is a series dealing with forensic homicide investigations but the details are not particularly dark or graphic.
PROFANITY – None.
SEXUAL SITUATIONS – None.
4.5 Stars
SHOO FLY PIE, #1 a BUG MAN/ENTOMOLOGIST MYSTERY by Tim Downs. Tongue-in cheek humor, weird & fascinating! (Unique) Character driven Mystery.
This was a much enjoyed reread for me of SHOO FLY PIE by Tim Downs – bk#1 from his 6 bk “Bug Man”/entomologist Mystery series. I HIGHLY recommend Down’s BUG MAN series to Mystery or Fiction readers in general who appreciate discovering and reading novels with utterly unique characters and weird & quirky humor (and never read the book when released).
The MMC/Dr. Nick Polchak is an odd but very knowledgeable entomologist, a Pittsburgh native but now employed and receiving grants as a professor of NC State. Nick’s resume states he has conferred as a forensic expert on 72 different cases in 13 countries when 31yr old FMC/Kathryn Guilford approaches Dr. Polchak requesting that he investigate the supposed suicide of her childhood friend, Jimmy. Kathryn questions the validity of the cause of death ruled by the local, inexperienced coroner and when the local sheriff, another childhood friend, refuses to look into the matter further she reaches out to forensic expert Dr. Polchak who she hears is temporarily working in the area. What begins as an exercise merely to appease Kathryn’s concerns, for Dr. Polchak, moves aside when he discovers evidence contradicting the suicide ruling and then shots are fired. It seems someone does have something to hide.
Dr. Polchak/Nick is a truly weird guy with a very high intellect but little regard for people. Kathryn is spunky, intuitive, and resists coercion by anyone. I admired her. SHOO FLY PIE was as good of a read as I remembered. I look forward to diving into the series again. Romance doesn’t enter the picture in SHOO FLY PIE, but it is still a fascinating read – especially for Mystery readers who don’t necessarily require romance. (I believe the series may end with romance in the last book. Perhaps I’ll skip ahead to bk#6 (just to find out). Chop Shop, #2 is next. (The first 2 books are available as a bundle set, and the last 4 as well).
*READER CAUTIONS – NONE, unless anyone has a particularly sensitive stomach. Actually, SHO FLY PIE is not at all dark simply frank & scientifically specific. I love the fascinating details.
*IMO appropriate for any reader perhaps 15/16 & older. This is CLEAN fiction with no strong language, violence, or sexual situations
“I am a forensic entomologist . . . . I study the way different necrophilous arthropods inhabit a body during the process of decomposition . . . I’m the Bug Man.”
When Kathryn Guilford’s gut tells her that Jimmy McAllister’s death was not a suicide, she makes a brazen decision to ignore the system and hire the reclusive, crotchety Dr. Nick Polchak, known to more than a few as the “Bug Man”. She should have known after their first escapade (breaking and entering a funeral home?), that teaming with Dr. Polchak was going to be somewhat of an “off the record” experience, but it would have been impossible to predict the kinds of answers that she and the nearly blind eccentric were destined to unearth. . . . . . .
With a style all his own, this author has used every ingredient necessary to bake this quite memorable “shoofly pie” of a story.