This was a great book. I could not put it down. The intrigue and suspense kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole book. I will definitely be getting more Jack Lynch books now that he is on my radar. ( )

This is just my luck, I start reading an interesting series with the 8th and final novel. This is a great book and I plan to read the rest of the series,this time starting with the first one. This is the story of Peter Bragg, a reporter turned private investigator. In this story he is working with a psychic he knew from his past. She tells him where bodies are buried and the story takes off. It is a hang on to your hat ride after that. I like the way women are protrayed in this story, especially the dectective Bragg works with. This is a very good book and I can't wait to read more in this series. I received this free book from NetGalley for an honest review. ( )

This is just my luck, I start reading an interesting series with the 8th and final novel. This is a great book and I plan to read the rest of the series,this time starting with the first one. This is the story of Peter Bragg, a reporter turned private investigator. In this story he is working with a psychic he knew from his past. She tells him where bodies are buried and the story takes off. It is a hang on to your hat ride after that. I like the way women are protrayed in this story, especially the dectective Bragg works with. This is a very good book and I can't wait to read more in this series. I received this free book from NetGalley for an honest review. ( )

"Die for Me" is one of the older detective novels that Brash Books is reissuing in paper and ebook. It was published as "Wolf House" in 2002. It is an appealing and very readable serial killer mystery set in the Bay Area, one of eight Bragg novels written by Jack Lynch who died in 2008.

In this, the final published book in the series, Bragg is revealed through his relationships with the women around him – friends, lovers and new acquaintances. He is as an intelligent man who tries to be conscientious in his relationships with women, to do right by them if he can. There are relatively few important men in this story.

The mystery itself is straightforward, with the killer pretty clear from early on, but that doesn't matter because we are very much drawn into the stories of the people involved: the psychic who starts the investigation, her niece who is an attractive, spirited woman, Rachel the perceptive cop, Karen who runs a modeling agency, even the dumb PR guy Pershing (good name) from the governor's office. I like Harvey Draper the forensics guy who shows a human face and Max Bolero who has chosen his own musical name.

A note on the cover. There is no streetcar in this book and I am mystified why Brash put one on the cover. OK, Bragg is based in San Francisco but there were many other compelling images in the story that the artist could have used without spoiling the plot.

I received a review copy of "Die for Me" by Jack Lynch (Brash Books) through NetGalley.com. ( )

Peter Bragg would seem to have multiple dimensions and is more than just the hard-boiled noir detective I originally thought he was! Since he's a PI, violence can be part of his job. But, there are many kinds of violence and they all have consequences - for the perpetrator(s), for Bragg, for the victims, for those who help the victims, for those who investigate, and for many others. Die for Me explores all of these aspects of violence. While retaining the typical tropes of a rousing detective story - bodies and clues and suspects and danger - Die for Me, rather untypically, is also a probing character study, an exploration of how the different forms of violence depicted in the story affect particular individuals and their relationships.

Of course Bragg is the central character of the novel and it's not surprising that his reaction to violence is to move toward it, to confront it, and then afterwards to compartmentalize it and not dwell on it. But that doesn't hold true of everybody. Die for Me explores in some depth how police detectives, forensic anthropologists, TV reporters , office managers, those with mental illness and even psychics respond to threatening circumstances.

A very interesting parallel subplot deals with the character women exhibit in dealing with the verbal violence men use to denigrate them. Happily, Bragg shows himself to be surprisingly sensitive! Die for Me is a excellent mystery to read as much for its puzzle and suspense as for its insightful portrayal of human nature and the consequences of violence. Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )