Free Fall

This is an outtake from a blog post discussing John Ceepak Mysteries 6-8 over at The Irresponsible Reader. It probably works better in the context of the whole, but, you never know.
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Sure, there are draw backs to having a mystery series in a smaller town - at some point the crime rate gets ridiculously high, for example. On the other hand, when at least one of your characters has known half of the victims/suspects/witnesses all their lives, you can save a lot of time getting to know them finding narrative hooks, emotional ties, etc. That helps a lot here.

There's something to this murder – this victim that doesn't seem like the typical Ceepak/Boyle case. Same with the motive, really. I really liked the characters, the murder, the way this pushed our protagonists in different ways. If this wasn't the best mystery – the best book in the series, it's the best in a long time. Hope it's a sign of things to come.