THE AMBASSADOR

A savvy sleuth learns that dark memories of the Vietnam War are slow to fade.

In mid-1980s Boston, private eye Andy Roark is summoned to the opulent Harvard Club to take a meeting with esteemed Ambassador Gordon R. Stevenson. Significantly, Andy is vetted by Stevenson’s wife, Honey, and Brad Lawrence, his brusque aide-de-camp, before he gets to meet the pompous windbag himself. Someone’s been sending the great man threatening letters. In light of the recent assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, Stevenson’s camp is concerned. Can Andy identify the anonymous writer? The seriousness of the situation is underscored by the surprise arrival of FBI Special Agent Brenda Watts, who’s no fan of Andy’s. The roots of both the miscreant’s threats and Andy’s disdain for Stevenson date back to the Vietnam War, in which Andy and Stevenson served, Andy as a Green Beret and Stevenson in command. But Andy shelves his feelings to befriend the ambassador, and they find common ground via shared reminiscences of Vietnam. Andy’s fourth caper harkens back to classic gumshoe fiction, long on narrative aplomb and wisecracks, balanced between following a twisty trail of persons of interest and portraying Andy’s colorful loner life. The investigative path, which leads through a handful of vets struggling to recover from their war experiences, triggers uncomfortable memories for the usually unflappable Andy as well. Colorful characters and Andy’s banter go down easy; Colt’s trenchant depictions of vets haunted by their war experiences will stick with readers long afterward.

A gritty whodunit that packs an unexpected punch.