BURIED LIES

A slick shamus probes a quirky murder in an even quirkier small town.

After a messy episode that capped two decades as a private investigator in Charleston, South Carolina, Davis Reed now lives in a remote cabin in the small town of Cruso, North Carolina, with a vague plan to write a book. Thanks to his buddies Dale and Floppy, he’s plugged into the local crime scene. Dale, head deputy for Haywood County, contacts him about a weird and fatal accident on a local golf course. The victim is Cruso bigwig Prentiss Wells, who died after being beaned with a golf ball. Yes, the whole situation looks suspicious. The more Davis digs, the more unsavory details he uncovers, and the deeper the mystery becomes. In an unfortunate incident “way back,” Prentiss killed a boy with his car. The glamorous and unnervingly blithe duo Vance and Linda Roth have an inordinate interest in the case. They press Davis to investigate the bizarre accident, and why not? When Davis finds a shotgun shell on his doormat, he begins to take the case and his safety more seriously. Sparks fly when David meets Elizabeth Harper, who’s so alluring that she even asks him about his book. Is she a potential partner or a femme fatale? With its amiable first-person narrative, bro banter, and multiple interviews with various persons of interest, Tingle’s second Davis Reed crime novel has a relaxed, retro feel. Tingle includes several familiar tropes but incorporates them deftly. His character portraits are succinct and engrossing.

A colorful crime yarn that goes down easy.