Someone once noted that "it takes one to know one" and this aptly describes the entertaining novel "A Fool’s Gold" authored by former Portland legal beagle Bill Merritt and just released by Bloomsbury Publishing of New York. 

Merritt’s tale is replete with references to Oregon places and people this state’s residents will readily recognize from personal experience or oft-heard references. The legend of buried treasure from a Spanish galleon wrecked on the shoreline of Neahkahnie Mountain is the centerpiece of this humorous and unpredictable plot.  Rustic contemporary Oregon coastal characters abound and rural law enforcement (or lack thereof) is cleverly described.  Author Merritt’s namesake inherits the law practice of one Thaddeus Silk and a caseload dominated by Abbie Birdsong, a pot-crazed retired logging choker-setter and Grady Jackson, an inveterate treasure-seeker widely known as the "Crazy Man of Neahkahnie Mountain." 

Suspense and comedy are skillfully interlaced in this book, which certainly earns a desciption as a "page turner."  The reader will undoubtedly wind up rooting for the lawyer, as unlikely as that may seem. This is a fascinating portrait of a very real Oregon, with a world-class cast of eccentric characters, i.e. "Abby was truly a Bride sof the Weed...every time I met with hers...she stank of marijuana as if her clothes and hair were emanating from a smokehouse of dope."

Mystery and archeology are vital elements here, along with sympathetic treatments of some very memorable folk. The young attorney who stars in this improbable tale is replete with funny lawyerly griping and exasperated observations on the ways of the rural Oregon citizens who cross his path... "In the land of ‘fresh out of ideas’ the half-baked scheme is king."

We fervently hope Merritt’s skills will be exercised in the creation of further literary exercises

© 2006 Oregon Magazine