PUBLISHED/Minotaur Books mystery
Drink The Tea
Thomas Kaufman
Introducing Washington, D.C. private eye, Willis Gidney.
Growing up without parents or a home, Willis Gidney is a born liar and rip-off artist, an expert at the scam. By age twelve Gidney is a successful young man, running his own small empire, until he meets Shadrack Davies. That’s Captain Shadrack Davies, of the Washington, D.C. Police. Davies wants to reform Gidney and becomes his foster father. Though he tries not to, Gidney learns a small amount of ethics from Shad—just enough to bother a kid from the streets for the rest of his life.
Now Gidney’s a PI, walking those same streets. So it’s no surprise that when Gidney’s closest friend, jazz saxophonist Steps Jackson, asks him to find Jackson’s missing daughter, Gidney is compelled to say yes—even though she’s been missing for twenty-five years. He finds a woman who may be the girl’s mother—and within hours she is killed by persons unknown. The police accuse Gidney of the murder and throw him in jail.
Maybe Gidney should quit while he’s behind. But when his investigation puts him up against a ruthless multi-national corporation, a two-faced congressman, and a young woman desperate to conceal her past, Gidney has no time left for second thoughts. In fact, he may have no time left at all.
Growing up without parents or a home, Willis Gidney is a born liar and rip-off artist, an expert at the scam. By age twelve Gidney is a successful young man, running his own small empire, until he meets Shadrack Davies. That’s Captain Shadrack Davies, of the Washington, D.C. Police. Davies wants to reform Gidney and becomes his foster father. Though he tries not to, Gidney learns a small amount of ethics from Shad—just enough to bother a kid from the streets for the rest of his life.
Now Gidney’s a PI, walking those same streets. So it’s no surprise that when Gidney’s closest friend, jazz saxophonist Steps Jackson, asks him to find Jackson’s missing daughter, Gidney is compelled to say yes—even though she’s been missing for twenty-five years. He finds a woman who may be the girl’s mother—and within hours she is killed by persons unknown. The police accuse Gidney of the murder and throw him in jail.
Maybe Gidney should quit while he’s behind. But when his investigation puts him up against a ruthless multi-national corporation, a two-faced congressman, and a young woman desperate to conceal her past, Gidney has no time left for second thoughts. In fact, he may have no time left at all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thomas Kaufman is an Emmy award-winning motion picture director/cameraman. Since graduating from the University of Southern California in 1981 with an MFA in Film Production, he has worked as a Director of Photography on documentary, commercial, and fiction films. In addition to working as director/cameraman for National Geographic and Discovery Channels, Kaufman has also shot documentaries for British Broadcasting Corporation, WGBH, WNET, and independent producers such as Charles Guggenheim, Barbara Koppel, and Michael Moore.
Recent projects include a film about nuclear disarmament, programs for the new Smithsonian Channel, and HBO's Behind-the-Scenes: John Adams. Kaufman’s current project is an independent documentary, Indian Hill. Here’s the trailer which includes an interview with Pete Seeger: www.indianhillmovie.org
Kaufman has twice won the Gordon Parks Award for Cinematography, and an Emmy for the 1994 documentary about deaf children, See What I'm Saying.
Recent projects include a film about nuclear disarmament, programs for the new Smithsonian Channel, and HBO's Behind-the-Scenes: John Adams. Kaufman’s current project is an independent documentary, Indian Hill. Here’s the trailer which includes an interview with Pete Seeger: www.indianhillmovie.org
Kaufman has twice won the Gordon Parks Award for Cinematography, and an Emmy for the 1994 documentary about deaf children, See What I'm Saying.
