Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN MIND (Detective Maier Mystery Book #2) by Tom Vater.
Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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About the Book
Detective Maier has a new case. This time it is a cold case: investigating the death of Julia Rendel’s father, an East German culture attaché who was killed near a fabled CIA airbase in central Laos in 1976.
But before the detective can set off, his client is kidnapped right out of his arms. Maier follows Julia’s trail to the Laotian capital Vientiane, where he learns different parties, including his missing client, are searching for a legendary CIA file crammed with Cold War secrets.
The real prize, however, is the file’s author: someone codenamed Weltmeister, a former US and Vietnamese spy and assassin no one has seen for a quarter century. Racing against time, Maier needs to dig deep into the past – including his own – in order to make sense of the present.
The second book in Tom Vater’s Detective Maier Mysteries series, The Man With The Golden Mind is an action-packed thriller with plenty of sex, drugs, assassinations and double-crosses.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN MIND (Detective Maier Mystery Book #2) by Tom Vater is the second noir crime fiction/spy thriller which takes the reader on an intriguing, atmospheric and thrilling trip into Asia with German war correspondent turned private investigator Maier. While his last adventure took him back to Cambodia, this time he is sent to investigate a twenty-five-year-old case in Laos.
Julia Rendel hires Maier to investigate what happened to her East German cultural attaché father who was murdered twenty-five-years-ago in Long Cheng, a CIA run airbase in Laos during the Vietnamese war. Before the two can even begin their journey to Laos, Julia is kidnapped right from under Maier in their hotel room.
Maier arrives in Laos and is immediately dragged along by circumstances rather than following a step-by-step investigation. Maier learns his information is far from complete and he ends up searching not only for his missing client and answers from the past, but also a cache of gold, a legendary CIA file and a spy who does not wish to come in from the cold.
I found the intriguing and unique characters, the vividly drawn atmosphere and locations and the surprising twists and action kept me turning the pages. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but eventually they sort themselves out and the plot moves along at a fast pace. I was surprised by the return of a character from the first book and with his return comes a very unexpected plot twist. The author steeped me in the atmosphere and culture of Laos, past and present which made it a unique read. While this is not an easy book to read, the characters, location and plot all come together to make it a very special noir crime fiction/spy thriller book to read.
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About the Author
Tom Vater is an Asia-based writer.
He has published some 20 books – four novels, nonfiction, illustrated books and guidebooks, all on Asian subjects.
Tom has written four crime fiction novels. The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu – the third English language edition out with Next Chapter out now – is a travel thriller set on the 70s hippie trail between London and Kathmandu. A Spanish translation is out with ExploraEditorial.
The Detective Maier trilogy – The Cambodian Book of the Dead, The Man with the Golden Mind and the The Monsoon Ghost Image, a Southeast Asia series of novels follows the exploits of a former conflict journalist turned private eye.
Tom has written for The Guardian, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, the Nikkei Asian Review and many other publications. He co-authored Sacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos (2011), a notable bestseller. He is also co-author of several documentary screenplays, including The Most Secret Place on Earth (2008), a feature on the CIA’s covert war in Laos in the 60s and 70s.
The fifth book in Joanna Schaffhausen’s heartpounding Ellery Hathaway mystery series.
Boston detective Ellery Hathaway met FBI agent Reed Markham when he pried open a serial killer’s closet to rescue her. Years on, their relationship remains defined by that moment and by Francis Coben’s horrific crimes. To free herself from Coben’s legacy, Ellery had to walk away from Reed, too. But Coben is not letting go so easily. He has an impossible proposition: Coben will finally give up the location of the remaining bodies, on one condition—Reed must bring him Ellery.
Now the families of the missing victims are crying out for justice that only Ellery can deliver. The media hungers for a sequel and Coben is their camera-ready star. He claims he is sorry and wants to make amends. But Ellery is the one living person who has seen the monster behind the mask and she doesn’t believe he can be redeemed. Not after everything he’s done. Not after what she’s been through. And certainly not after a fresh body turns up with Coben’s signature all over it.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Last Seen Alive by Joanna Schaffhausen shows why she is the master storyteller of serial killers. There is not a book she has written that is not terrifying, intense, and complex. She not only gets into the heads of the murderers, but also the victims. Readers will gain insight into what it is like to become a public figure because of circumstances beyond someone’s control, trying to find normalcy and privacy.
The prologue shows how FBI Agent Reed Markham and Boston Detective Ellery Hathaway have a long relationship. Seventeen years ago, he rescued fourteen-year-old Ellery, then known as Abby, from serial killer Francis Coben. This monster had kidnapped, tortured, and held her hostage in a closet for days. There were seventeen other victims that he tortured, mutilated, and killed.
Fast forward to current day when television celebrity and journalist Kate Hunter wants to interview Coben to supposedly get justice for the victims never found. But his one condition for the interview and to give up the location of the bodies is a face-to-face meeting with Ellery.
Coben is pure evil that lurks behind a normal face. He is one of the most terrifying psychopaths to ever appear in a thriller. Although the violence is not graphic, readers are able to understand his horrific crimes. He loves to get into Ellery’s head and knows that he will always be a part of her soul.
Ellery and Reed had a rocky relationship, first rescuer/rescuee, then friends to lovers, but never able to get out from what brought them together when they first met. Unfortunately, Ellery walked away from Reed to try to free herself from Coben’s legacy. Now they are back working together to find the other victims. The question for readers, will Reed and Ellery have their happy ending?
Although the crimes are dark, the author sets such a great pace that the book becomes a page turner that cannot be put down. There is something about serial killers that draws people to their stories. As with her other series and previous stories, Last Seen Alive, is part mystery, part character study. The conflicting emotions, the pain both physical and emotional, and the reality all play a part in the telling of this captivating thriller.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Were any of these characters based on real people?
Joanna Schaffhausen: Ellery, the victim, and Reed, the FBI agent are loosely inspired by two real people. Reed was based on Bob Keppel, the Seattle homicide detective who was on the job for one week when given the Ted Bundy case. At that time, they only knew there were missing women. The Ted Bundy case changed the trajectory of Keppel’s career. He ended up specializing in serial killers. He was one of a few law enforcement people who tried to get Bundy to confess to other crimes that they suspected, to give up the other bodies. Reed, as with Keppel, was a green law enforcement officer attached to one of the cases of the century.
EC: What about Ellery?
JS: She was loosely inspired by a woman named Carol DeRonch. Ted Bundy, pretending to be a policeman in Montana, abducted her at the age of eighteen. She was suspicious after he drove away from the police station. They struggled in the car, and she was able to escape. The day she escaped; Bundy found another woman who he killed. But being his first known living victim, Carol, was able to describe what he looked like and the car. Her survival allowed all the law enforcement officers in different states to put the clues together. Even though this is now more than forty years ago, she is still hounded by Ted Bundy enthusiasts. Although he is dead, he follows her around like a ghost. At this point she prefers to be left alone. People wanted to know more about her, to know more about what it was like, and even pretended to be fellow victims. The idea behind Ellery is that as a young person she was attacked and survived. But somehow her life is still about this horrible man. How do they find an identity for themselves when the worst thing that happened is perceived as the most interesting about them?
EC: How would you describe Ellery?
JS: As with Carol, they both had survivor’s guilt. But there is a lot of differences between Carol and Ellery. Abby was Ellery’s name when she was young, living in Chicago, deserted by her father, with a brother dying of cancer and a mother consumed by it. Abby had to fend for herself. After Coben got her, she grew up quick. She went with her middle name, Ellery, who sees herself as a separate person from Abby. She had dreams that were derailed. Ellery has a sense of loss. Even though Ellery survived, Abby died. They both end up with scars and recover from PTSD as she makes peace with what happened to her. Now for the first time she has healthy relationships. Ellery completes the healing journey for Abby.
EC: How would you describe Francis Coben, the serial killer?
JS: He has some elements that are Bundyesque. The infamy, the hunger for more, abducting young women with a lot of promise in their life. One of the reasons I write my books is that the public wants to make more of these awful men than is there to be found. This desire to imagine they are brilliant and charming when they have done horrific acts and should not be admired. I wanted to show like the others, Coben, is just this killing machine. The normal person and the monster live inside this one person. He compartmentalizes, is a habitual liar, narcissist, egomaniac, and sociopath. Coben is obsessed with Ellery, the one outstanding victim, the one who got away at the age of fourteen.
EC: How would you describe Reed?
JS: A people pleaser who wants to fix everything. Brilliant, charming, wants to be the hero. He grew up as the baby of all sisters. Being adopted, her was raised in a white family but he himself is white Hispanic. He feels the need to prove himself. He is also honest, caring, protective, has a stubborn streak, is a good cook, and enjoys playing the piano.
EC: Relationship between Reed and Ellery?
JS: I wanted to explore how the kidnapping and rescue was the worst thing that ever happened to her and the best thing that ever happened to him. The premise of the first book, The Vanishing Season, has them reunite after a decade and a half. Reed feels he is the hero of the story, catching Coben, and rescuing her. But after they reunite, he gets to see all the ways he did not save her. He participated in perpetuating Coben’s legacy by writing a book off her story. They are the only ones who know the truth about her story. They are a mirror of each other. She never has to explain anything to him. Both she and Reed can be themselves with each other that gives them a unique bond even with a 13 year age difference. Eventually they form a romantic attachment as adults.
EC: The journalistic quote by Ellery?
JS: You are referring to this one, “For years, people like you have sold my story and packaged my pain as entertainment. You set it to scary music and surround it with ads… You justify it by saying there’s a lesson here. We can learn about him. We can protect ourselves better in the future. Well, the fact that we’re here now, that you’re talking about giving him the stage and making him a big, big TV star… that proves you haven’t learned a thing at all.” People should be able to walk away and live their life in peace.
EC: My feeling about journalists is that they are mostly uncaring, self-centered, and ignore the truth. What about you?
JS: I think some can be described that way, but not all. I worked for seven years for ABC national news as an editorial producer. In general, I think they want to get it correct, especially the True Crime people. I have mixed feelings where True Crime runs the gamut from being offensive to being more thoughtful. Kate Hunter, the on-air journalist in the book, wants to milk the story between Ellery and Coben. She is looking for the big ratings grab. But does want to give the families justice for the victims that have never been identified. Readers will get the feeling that this is a secondary want for her.
EC: Next Book?
JS: For now, this is the last book in the series, because Ellery has completed the journey I intended her to complete. I originally conceived the idea for five books so there is no new book on the horizon. But I would like to hear from the readers if they would like more books. Please contact me at https://www.joannaschaffhausen.com/contact/
The new book in my other series, the sequel, is called Long Gone. It comes out in August 2022. Detective Vega blew up her life, both personally and professionally, at the end of the first book. Now she is called to the scene of a weird crime where a fellow police officer is shot dead. Present is his young wife who is unharmed. Vega comes up with a suspect who is dated by her best friend.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
A breakneck procedural that is beautifully written and masterfully crafted, Erin Young’s The Fields is a dynamite debut—crime fiction at its very finest.
Some things don’t stay buried.
It starts with a body—a young woman found dead in an Iowa cornfield, on one of the few family farms still managing to compete with the giants of Big Agriculture.
When Sergeant Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations for the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, arrives on the scene, an already horrific crime becomes personal when she discovers the victim was a childhood friend, connected to a dark past she thought she’d left behind.
The investigation grows complicated as more victims are found. Drawn deeper in, Riley soon discovers implications far beyond her Midwest town.
THE FILEDS (Riley Fisher Book #1) by Erin Young is a gritty, dark, and intense start to a new police procedural crime thriller series featuring a rural American female police sergeant as the protagonist. This is a hunt for a serial killer and the author does not shy away from explicit crime scene descriptions which is fine for an ID and true crime lover as myself, but may be too graphic for some.
Newly promoted Sergeant Riley Fisher is to lead the Black Hawk, Iowa Sheriff’s Office Field Investigations Unit. A young woman is horrifically murdered and is found in a cornfield. When Riley arrives to investigate, she is shocked to discover the victim was a childhood friend.
As the investigation continues, so does the body count and the connection to Riley’s own dark past.
I really loved Riley and am very glad this is a series because there is still so much more I want to know about her. All the secondary characters are interesting and fully fleshed. I felt the police procedural plot was made more realistic with the missteps along the way instead of the usual step-by-step perfect investigation. The inclusion of government corruption and Big Ag interwoven throughout sometimes slowed the pace for me, but it was thought provoking. I will be interested to see where the author takes these characters in the future.
Overall, a strong start to a new police procedural crime thriller series with an intriguing new protagonist.
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About the Author
The Fields is Erin Young’s debut crime thriller, featuring Sergeant Riley Fisher of Black Hawk County, in the first of a planned series. Young lives and writes in Brighton, England.
Today is my turn on the Books ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LIST (Martha Munro Crime Mystery Book #1) by Michael Leese.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
It was just an ordinary Wednesday lunchtime when Detective Martha Munro’s life changed forever.
Her sergeant is speaking, but she barely hears what he’s telling her.
Your mother has been shot dead. Your four-year-old daughter has been taken.
There are no leads. Who would want to hurt her family?
Martha realizes it’s time to ask herself some hard questions about her late father.
He led the anti-corruption squad at Scotland Yard. It’s rumoured he kept a list of everyone who worked for him, from coppers to criminals. And just being on that list was a sure-fire way to lower your life expectancy.
Her mother was killed by someone trying to get their hands on that list. Now time is running out for Martha to get her daughter back alive.
Martha is the kind of cop who always goes by the book. But family is EVERYTHING. And she will do ANYTHING to keep them safe.
THE LIST (Martha Munroe Crime Mystery Book #1) by Michael Leese is the first book in a new British crime mystery series and it is constructed like no other I have read before. I was immediately intrigued and could not put it down.
Detective Martha Munroe is informed by her sergeant that her mother has been shot dead and her four-year-old daughter kidnapped.
With the help of longtime friend of the family, Harry the Hat, Martha begins to learn more about her late father who led the anti-corruption unit at The Met and is somehow tied to the forces working to destroy her. A powerful enemy believes Martha has the list belonging to her father that names all the criminals who were working as snitches for him and all the corrupt police on the force and he is willing to do anything to get it for himself.
When Martha and Harry find the list, they must work to decode it to find out who Martha can really trust and who is trying to make sure she ends up dead.
I enjoyed the unique way this story unfolded. Who would put their detective protagonist in such a position in the first book of a series? Well, Mr. Leese did, and I found it kept me turning the pages. Martha and Harry are wonderful characters that are very likeable and fully fleshed. The other characters always had me guessing whether they were good, bad, or varying shades of gray. The plot is full of twists and surprises with an ending that leaves the door open for more. I am looking forward to following Martha in future books in this series.
I recommend this start to a new British crime mystery series!
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About the Author
Before taking up writing, Michael Leese was a national newspaper journalist for over 25 years, with the last part of his career working for the London Evening Standard. The most memorable stories he covered ranged from Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 attacks and the two Gulf wars.
In the latter part of his career, Mike was a news editor. In this role he gained insights into many specialties from crime and court reporting, to political and science news and the behind the scenes working of government, the City and other institutions. Mike’s passion for news and current affairs remains very strong and influences the writing of his books.
Today is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DRIVEN: A Rita Mars Thriller by Valerie Webster.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Ex-investigative journalist, Rita Mars loses an old friend to what looks like suicide. She’s convinced he was murdered to cover unethical maneuvers and save reputations in the abyss that is Congress. Back stabbings inside the beltway sometimes extend beyond metaphorical. She’s going to butt heads with the local good ole boy authorities and navigate the deliberately stoked smoke screens of the duly elected, but she is never going to give up.
Genre: Thriller Published by: Ignited Ink Writing Publication Date: May 25th 2021 Number of Pages: 396 ISBN: 1952347033 (ISBN13: 978-1952347030)
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
DRIVEN: A Rita Mars Thriller by Valerie Webster is a debut P.I. thriller/crime mystery with an interesting new protagonist and cast of characters that I am looking forward to following in hopefully many more books to come.
Ex-investigative journalist, now private investigator Rita Mars shows up for a meeting with an old journalist colleague, only to find he has committed suicide. Something is not right with the scene, and Rita will not stop asking questions. Her friend was working an investigation in the beltway where dark money and unethical maneuvers seem to be behind a big pharma legislative bill.
At the same time, she is hired by a woman to document proof of a picture-perfect high-profile ex-husband stalking and terrorizing her. As Rita is investigating this case, he focuses his deadly obsession not only on his ex but also on Rita.
Two cases overlap and Rita is in the crosshairs.
Rita is an interesting protagonist. She is 45, a lesbian, has switched professions, has a lesbian police Captain best friend and a trans ex-Navy SEAL secretary/assistant. She also has past trauma in her life from an abusive alcoholic policeman father who committed suicide. I felt an instant connection to these characters, but there were a few times they felt more like caricatures, especially Bev, Rita’s assistant. The flow of the intertwining crime plots is realistic with believable investigations and build up at an ever-increasing pace to satisfying conclusions.
Overall, I enjoyed this debut P.I. thriller and will be looking for more in this series.
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Excerpt
Chapter 1
“Rita Mars, this is a voice from your past.”
“Who the hell is this?” Rita demanded.
It was eleven o’clock, and the dreary end of a long day. A miserable October rain tapped on the office windows. Through the water slashed glass, Baltimore’s Mitchell Court House next door was a smear of grey and black.
“I first met you devouring Hershey bars in the newsroom at midnight.” The man was gleeful.
“That narrows it down.”
Great clue. Hell, she’d been a reporter for seventeen years before she started the agency. Rita cradled her chin. The police department snitch who gave up the narcs ripping off drug dealers? The accountant with the guilty conscience who squealed on the HUD housing contracts?
“We were a pair and then again we were not.”
“Look, pal, I don’t know –”
“I was the snow king and you were the fire breather.”
Rita started to hang up, but there was something eerily familiar about that line.
“You never know when you’ve had your last chance,” the man said.
“Bobby Ellis.” Instinctively, Rita touched the worn chrome Zippo in her pocket that bore those very words. Chills ran along her arms and the hair bristled at her neck.
“Bingo,” Ellis said.
“God, I’m so glad to hear from you. Where are you? When can I see you?
“Sunday.”
“Halloween?”
“The Overlook Inn in Harper’s Ferry. Breakfast at ten. I’ll have a lot to tell you. A story for above the fold.”
Rita scribbled his instructions on a blank notepad. “Tell me now.” Above the fold on a newspaper’s front page was reserved for big time news.
“Just be there.”
Rita thought he was hanging up.
“By the way—ever think you’d see me alive again?” Ellis asked softly.
“No,” Rita said. “I never thought I would.”
Chapter 2
Rita Mars sang along with the Shirelles. She glanced at the Jeep’s speedometer and then at the rearview mirror to check for approaching troopers.
The West Virginia countryside blazed with yellow and scarlet. Sunlight sprinkled the rock-strewn pastures with brilliance and made the car’s white hood shimmer like a snowfield. Even the black and white Holsteins seemed brighter than usual as they ripped up the last shreds of yellowed pasture grass.
Though it was late October, Rita had the top down on the Jeep. It was good to ride on this open road alone with the sun and wind. She couldn’t really be forty-five this year. She ran thirty miles a week and could still get into jeans the size she’d worn in college. Rita peered over the top of her Raybans and took another look in the mirror. Ok, so her dark hair was shot through with silver.
She smiled. It made her look more interesting. After all, how many older women had she fallen madly in love with in her younger years?
Rita flipped the radio off and concentrated on her meeting with Bobby Ellis. She hadn’t seen him in forever. Yes, she had thought he might be dead. A superior journalist, he’d thrown it all away with a coke habit that he paid for with a career and a marriage. No one had seen or heard of him now for more than two years.
After he disappeared, a malaise had set. Rita abandoned investigative reporting and spend her time working on a detective’s license. She was going to right wrongs instead of writing about wrongs as she described her abrupt life change.
She sighed. She wanted to return to the happier thoughts that had so recently danced in her head.
A red truck with a rainbow sticker on the front bumper appeared the in oncoming lane. Rita’s smile came back and she waved as they raced each other.
“We’re everywhere. We’re everywhere,” she hummed to herself.
She returned to her former mood of excited anticipation. She was seeing Bobby again.
They had been reporters together on the Washington Star. More like brother and sister than co-workers, they had fought over editorial recognition, wept on each other’s shoulders, and held each other’s hand during their respective long, dark nights of the soul.
Rita tried sweet talk at first when his habit began to devour him. Then she got tough. They fought bitterly. In the end, he surrendered everything to the white powder.
She’d been as angry with herself as with him. She couldn’t make him stop. Like a flashback, the feelings were the same when she thought about her childhood. She hadn’t been able to stop the runaway train her father rode either. Alcohol carried him far and fast. In the end, he stuck his police revolver into his mouth and killed his pain.
Bad memories again. Rita shook her head and switched the radio back on.
“There she was, just a walkin’ down the street . . . “ Rita sang along at the top of her lungs and pushed the accelerator just a little farther with her docksider.
Five miles and three oldies but goodies later, she slowed as the road narrowed to the twisting mountainside lanes that led to Harper’s Ferry. Down the sheer embankment on the passenger’s side, she could see canoes below on this rocky segment of the Potomac. She took a deep breath. The cobwebs of leftover memory cleared. It was a gorgeous day. At the top of a steep winding hill, Rita spied the flagpole that stood in the center of the Overlook Inn’s circular drive. Old Glory ruffled its red stripes in a soft October breeze that seemed more spring than autumn.
The parking areas along the drive were jammed with American made pickups and SUVs. Lots of military bumper stickers and window decals. Families just out of church hopped out of cars and headed for the Inn’s dining room and Sunday brunch buffet.
As she reached the crest, she had to slam on the brakes. The drive was blocked by two Harper’s Ferry sheriffs’ cars, a West Virginia trooper vehicle—blue gumball lights twirling—an ambulance from nearby Ransom, a fire truck and a dented beige Crown Vic with county plates.
Guests and townies milled around the west annex. A tall, grim-faced sheriff’s deputy held them at bay.
“What the heck is this?” Rita jumped out of the Jeep.
Inside, the interior of the Overlook lobby was cool and dark. The desk clerk was a woman with long red nails and a plunging neckline to her sundress. Her blue eye shadow made her look like an alien. Oblivious to Rita, she leaned across the far end of the registration counter to stare out the front door toward the commotion outside. Rita pulled off her Raybans.
“What happened?” Rita asked.
“Man killed hisself.” The woman continued to lean and stare over the counter.
The taste of metal rose in Rita’s throat. “Killed himself?”
“Room 107. Maid found him.” The clerk’s sense of duty returned and she walked toward the center of the counter where Rita stood. “Can I help you with something?”
Rita felt icy from the inside out. She dug her hand into her pocket to touch that Zippo talisman she always carried.
“I came here to meet someone.” The words jumbled in her mouth.
“Name?” The clerk absently flipped the registration book behind the counter.
Rita said nothing.
The clerk looked up then and said once more. “Name?”
“Bobby Ellis,” Rita whispered.
The two women stared at one another.
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Author Bio
Valerie Webster spent a career developing law enforcement applications for surveillance, security and forensics. She has also been a triathlete and a crime reporter. She honed her writing skills through “Sisters in Crime” and “Mystery Writers of America’s” mentoring program. In DRIVEN: A RITA MARS THRILLER, she weaves professional experiences into a high tension plot that sweeps the reader into the action from Page 1 to the breath-taking conclusion.
December 6, 2021 – January 31, 2022 Virtual Book Tour
Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour for THE BURDEN OF INNOCENCE (The Infantino Files Book #2) by John Nardizzi.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Private investigators Ray Infantino and Tania Kong take on the case of Sam Langford, framed for a murder committed by a crime boss at the height of his powers.
But a decade later, Boston has changed. The old ethnic tribes have weakened. As the PIs range across the city, witnesses remember the past in dangerous ways. The gangsters know that, in the new Boston, vulnerable witnesses they manipulated years ago are shaky. Old bones will not stay buried forever.
As the gang sabotages the investigation, will Ray and Tania solve the case in time to save an innocent man?
Genre: Mystery, Crime Noir Published by: Weathertop Media Co. Publication Date: December 5, 2021 Number of Pages: 290 ISBN: 978-1-7376876-0-3 Series: PI Ray Infantino Series, #2
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My Book Review
RATING: 5out of 5 Stars
THE BURDEN OF INNOCENCE (The Infantino Files Book #2) by John Nardizzi is a P.I. crime mystery/thriller set in South Boston with a hard-boiled, truth and justice seeking P.I. named Ray Infantino. While this is the second book in the series, it is very easily read as a standalone.
P.I. Ray Infantino is hired by the attorney of Sam Langford, who has declared his innocence from the day he was sentenced for murder fifteen years previously.
The gritty South Boston of fifteen years ago has changed as well as alliances. As Ray investigates Sam’s case, he is finding a vicious Southie gangster and a corrupt police officer are still working to manipulate the witnesses’ whose false testimonies sent an innocent man to prison.
Can Ray discover the truth from the past and help free an innocent man?
I love an old case investigation with a white knight trying to prove a miscarriage of justice. Ray is no innocent, but he cannot tolerate injustice in the law and corrupt officials who are supposed to uphold that law. This story has chapters that flashback to the original crime and witnesses interspersed as the present-day case unfolds and even with the timeline jumps, I was never confused or lost. The characters are fully fleshed and believable. The investigation is character driven rather than technology being the focus which was a joy to read for a change in pace. This is a realistic investigative page turner.
I can highly recommend this P.I. crime mystery/thriller!
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Excerpt
A SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
Boston Massachusetts
Chapter 1
Two burly guards from the sheriff’s department walked Sam Langford to the van. He noticed a newspaper wedged in a railing—his name jumped off the page in bold print: Jury to Decide Langford’s Fate In Waterfront Slaying. The presumption of innocence was a joke. You took the guilt shower no matter what the jury decided. He thought of his mother then, and the old ladies like her, reading the headline as they sipped their morning coffee across the city. He was innocent. But they would hate him forever.
A guard shoved Langford’s head below the roofline. He sat down in the cargo section, the only prisoner today. The guard secured him to a bar that ran the length of the floor, the chain rattling an icy tune. The van squealed off.
Langford’s head felt so light it could drift right off his shoulders. The van lurched, and he slid on the cold metal bench. The driver bumped the van into some potholes. Langford dug his heels into the floor. This was a guard-approved amusement ride, bouncing felon maggots off good ‘ol American steel. Sam had observed this man that morning. Something about his face was troubling. Sheriffs, guards, cops—most of them were okay. They didn’t bother him because he didn’t bother them. But cop work attracted certain men who hid their true selves. Men with a vicious streak that could turn an average day into a private torture chamber. These men were cancers to be avoided. Average days were what he wanted in jail. No violent breaks in the tedium.
The van careened on and stopped at a loading dock of the hulking courthouse, which jutted in the sky like a pale granite finger accusing the heavens. The last day of trial. Outside, Langford saw TV news vans and raised satellite dishes, the reporters being primped and padded for the live shot. The rear doors opened and the guard’s shaved skull appeared in silhouette. He tensed as the guard grabbed his arm and pulled him out. The guard wore a thin smile. “We’ll take the smooth road back. Just for you,” he muttered.
A clutch of photographers hovered behind a wall above the dock. Langford looked up at the blue sky, as he always did, focusing on breathing deeply. He would never assist, not for a minute, in his own degradation. He was innocent. He would not cooperate. Let them run their little circus, the cameras, the shouted questions, boom microphones drooped over his head to pick up a stray utterance. He leveled his jaw and looked past them. He knew he had no chance with them.
The guards walked him inside the courthouse and to an elevator. The chains clanked as they swung with his movement. They took the elevator to the eight floor where a court officer escorted the group into a hallway. Langford pulled his body erect toward the ceiling, as high as he could get. He intended to walk in the courtroom like some ancient Indian chieftain, unbowed. He was innocent and that sheer fact gave him some steel, yes it did.
The door opened and he stepped inside the courtroom. The gallery looked packed full, as usual. Cameras clicked. Low voices in the crowd hissed venom. “Death sentence is too good for you, asshole,” whispered one. He whispered a bit too loudly. A court officer wasted no time, hustling over and guiding the man to the exit.
Langford walked ahead, keeping his dark eyes focused. His family might watch this someday. Some ragged old news clip showing their son’s dark history. He struggled to keep the light burning behind his eyes. Something true, something eternal might show through. At least he hoped so. He had told his lawyer there would be no last-minute plea deal; he was innocent, and that was it.
As he walked, he felt the eyes of the crowd pick over him, watching for some involuntary tic that would betray his thoughts. But fear roiled his belly. He was afraid, no doubt. He knew the old saying that convicted murderers sat at the head table in the twisted hierarchy of a prison. But the fact remained—every prisoner walked next to a specter of sudden violence. He desperately wanted to avoid prison.
Keys rattled in the high-ceilinged courtroom as the officers unchained him. He rubbed his wrists and then sat down at the defense table. His defense lawyer, George Sterling, took the seat next to him. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with a bright orange-yellow tie. The color seemed garish for the occasion.
“How you doing, Sam?”
“Hopeful. But ready for the worst.”
Sterling grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. But his eyes betrayed him. Langford got a sense even his lawyer felt a catastrophe was coming.
The mother of the dead woman sat one row away from his own mother. Even here, mothers bore the greatest pain. Both women stared at him. Langford nodded to his mother as she mouthed the words, “I love you”. He smiled briefly. He glanced at the mother of the dead girl but looked away. Her eyes blazed with hatred and pain. He wanted to say something. But the odds were impossible. The reporters would misconstrue any gesture; the court officers might claim he threatened her. He saw no way out. Even a basic act of human kindness became muddled in a courtroom.
A court officer yelled, “All rise.” The whispers died down, and the gallery rose. The judge came in from chambers in a black-robed flurry. The lawyers went to sidebar, that curious phenomenon where they gather and whisper at the judge’s bench like kids in detention. Then the judge signaled the sidebar was over and told the court officer to bring in the jury. The jurors walked to the jury box, every one of them fixed with a blank look on their faces. None of them met his eyes. One juror eventually looked over at him. He tried to gauge his fate in her flat eyes, the set of her face. But there was nothing to see.
As the judge and lawyers spoke, the lightheadedness left him. Everything came into focus. Langford watched the foreperson hand a slip of paper to a court officer. She took a few steps and handed the paper to the judge. The judge pushed gray hairs off her forehead, examined the paper and placed it on her desk. A silence descended. Shuffles of feet, small muted coughs. People waited for a meteor to hit the earth. The clerk read the docket number into the record and the judge looked over to the foreperson, a woman with long dark hair and glasses. “On indictment 2001183 charging the defendant Samuel Langford with murder, what say you madame foreperson, is the defendant not guilty or guilty of murder in the first degree?”
“We find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.”
To Langford, the words seemed unreal, from a world away. A mist slid over his eyes. Gasps of joy, cries of surprise. A few spectators began clapping. The judge banged the gavel. Someone sobbed behind him, and this sound he knew; his mother was crying now openly. His body petrified. He couldn’t turn around.
Sterling put one hand on his shoulder, which snapped him back. The gesture irritated him. He didn’t want to be touched. Sterling’s junior assistant cupped his hand over his mouth. Sterling said something about the evidence, they would file an appeal. Langford stared at him. The reality of his new life began to emerge.
***
Author Bio
John Nardizzi is writer and investigator. His work on innocence cases led to the exoneration Gary Cifizzari and James Watson, as well as million dollar settlements for clients Dennis Maher and the estate of Kenneth Waters, whose story was featured in the film Conviction. His crime novels won praise for crackling dialogue and pithy observations of detective work. He speaks and writes about investigations in numerous settings, including World Association of Detectives, Lawyers Weekly, Pursuit Magazine and PI Magazine. Prior to his PI career, he failed to hold any restaurant job for longer than a week. He lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
