Mystery Book Reviews

Book Review: Hades

By Sandy Amazeen Mar 19, 2007, 3:45 GMT

As police chief of the quiet community of East End Harbor, Justin Westwood should have known better then to get involved in a steamy affair with a married woman let alone Abigail Harmon, wife of a prominent investment broker. When Evan Harmon was discovered brutally beaten to death in his bedroom, Abigail who was spending the night with the Westwood has an airtight alibi. Now he finds himself under the microscope of Larry Silverbush, a local DA with political aspirations who would like nothing better then to hang a murder rap on Westwood. Things get personal when Westwood’s brother-in-law disappears and is later discovered murdered. He returns to Providence, Rhode Island to try and figure out what happened where he is promptly warned off the case by a FBI agent Wanda Chinkle. Shortly thereafter, Chinkle is found dead in an empty lot with the word “Hades” written in blood. But what could it mean? Westwood gets digging and eventually unearths a complex plot complete with a team of Chinese assassins, fraud, and an international conspiracy involving platinum, car parts and really big money.

This is an absorbing, complex who-done-it with strong conspiracy theory overtones and almost superhero type heroics. Westwood’s third appearance relies on luck, smarts and the unlikely alliance with his old antagonist, FBI agent Reggie Bokkenheuser. Watching the sparks fly between these two strong characters adds yet another fun if improbable layer to an already convoluted tale.