A MAN ASKEW

In Costanzo’s novel, a directionless middle-aged man uncovers his late father’s secrets.

Dexter Renshaw is a 48-year-old former copy editor who has been placidly watching his life pass him by since the local newspaper went digital. After the death of his father, who was a police detective, Dex tries to tend to his stressed mother, his distant son, and his dismissive ex-wife—none of whom really seem to need him—when a stranger named Novack approaches him with a strange story. Novack claims that Dex’s father had put him away for a carjacking yearsearlier but took pity on him and stored Novack’s most important belongings in a secret safe deposit box, to which he now hopes Dex can produce the key. Passive to a fault, Dex brushes away his initial suspicions about Novack’s story and hands over the key—unwittingly setting himself up for a brutal attack that leaves him limping, living with his mother, and filled with nagging doubt about his father. In the months that follow, Dex slowly digs through the facts of the carjacking, interviews several people involved, and even pokes around a local encampment of unhoused people where Novack was said to have been seen. He soon discovers that his father had indeed been keeping some big secrets. Costanzo’s premise is immediately intriguing and Dex’s violent attack gives the story a jolt of excitement, but what follows is a much slower, more subtle style of mystery. There are few thrills and very little suspense in Dex’s investigation, which may disappoint readers eager for more lively revelations. Instead, the author digs into the thoughts of his amiable main character; Dex’s dry wit keeps him endearing. (Recovering from his injuries, Dex reflects on “the old dancing dog theory. People will be so amazed just to see me dancing that they won’t even notice whether I’m doing it well or not.”) The eventual revelations are disappointingly mundane, but Dex’s reflections along the way about fathers and sons, family expectations, and the way the world shifts around those just trying to get by provide plenty of drama.

A sympathetic and clever protagonist is the point of interest in this subtle, subdued family mystery.