This was a very enjoyable mystery novel by Dale Philips.

Zack Taylor is enlisted by his girlfriend, Allison, to help her cousin, Bonnie, who has been wrongly accused of murdering her boss. It would seem, however, that she has been made a scapegoat. There are plenty of potential suspects from the list of family members and business associates, all with compelling motives, but the police seem hell-bent on looking the other way and opting for the easy way out: Bonnie had motive enough and that was that.

Zack gets the bit between his teeth – he knows injustice when he sees it and does his utmost to clear Bonnie’s name; the minefield of corruption, greed, infidelity, revenge, fraud, selfishness, and sex that he uncovers leaves no doubt at all that she is completely innocent.

This is the second book in the Zack Taylor series – I have not read the first yet – but I was instantly smitten. I was drawn into the action instantly and Zack is easily likeable, if not somewhat captivating – he is loyal, compassionate, determined and focused. His investigations result in considerably more than a black eye on more than one occasion, but he remains undeterred – sadly at some personal and emotional cost.

This was a well-written mystery, well-paced and well-constructed. The baddies ranged from unscrupulous to abhorrently violent – an excellent contrast to those who are and become close to Zack.

I finished the book with mixed feelings. I was sad to not be able to turn another page with Zack on it, but consoled by the fact that I will bump into him again in Book One, A Memory of Grief, and Book Three, A Shadow on the Wall.

Highly recommended.
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