A thoughtful but unevenly executed whodunit.
In Paton’s philosophical mystery series installment,two cops diligently work to solve the murder of a man found in a dumpster.
Detective Erik Jansson of the Greater Metro Investigative Unit in St. Paul, Minnesota,finds himself mesmerized by the murder victim, who readers later learn is an ex-cop named Dan Routh, as if “this was personal not just to the victim, but to Erik himself. A premonition that despite serving the greater good, his ultimate fate could be mean and lowly, his existence soon forgotten.” Erik’s work partner, Deb Metzger, is equally intrigued by the mystery. She, like Routh, has been working to break up human-trafficking rings, and she and Erik interview a plethora of intriguing characters in their investigation—including young women who Deb worries might be at risk of being trafficked themselves. Opioid abuse abounds, and various people whom Erik and Deb meet struggle to stay clean, including Jalyn Dudek, a young pianist whose ex-boyfriend Joseph “Josh” Miller hovers on the edge of a relapse. As the case intensifies, nearly all the characters face further danger. This is an ambitious mystery that tackles heavy themes, such as the darkness of addiction and the fragility of human existence. Paton adroitly crafts engaging sentences that immediately hook the reader’s attention, such as “They lie when they say there’s a clean death” and “Erik saw his own death. Scratches gouged from eyes to chin, shirt ripped open, baring his chest, teeth clamped. All self-inflicted.” However, the novel’s large cast makes keeping track of everyone’s relationship to one another a tricky task. As Paton herself writes, in another context: “Keeping everybody straight—Retta, Ramon, Gran, Aunt Lyndsay, Gabe—had become Jaylyn’s full-time job.” Although this clutter of characters, in some ways, fits the hard-boiled detective plot, it also slows the pace and makes it overly difficult to discern which details are important and which are superfluous.
A thoughtful but unevenly executed whodunit.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-60381-768-4
Page Count: 223
Publisher: Epicenter Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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