Publisher's Weekly Review
Hamilton combines clear, crisp writing, wily, colorful characters and an offbeat locale (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) in an impressive debut. Alex McKnight is a retired Detroit cop living in Paradise, Mich., on disability with a bullet next to his heart. He rents cabins to hunters and has recently taken out a private-detective license at the suggestion of Lane Uttley, a local lawyer. The book begins fast, with a lot of background deftly woven into the narrative. At a local bar, the lawyer's former investigator accuses Alex of stealing his business. Later, Edwin Fulton, the scion of a wealthy Detroit family and a compulsive gambler, calls Alex from a nearby motel where he has found the murdered body of his bookie. After Edwin's strong-willed mother hires Alex to protect the family, another local bookie is murdered and Edwin disappears, prompting Alex and the lawyer to start a search of their own. Meanwhile, Alex receives letters and calls that appear to be from the Detroit man who shot him and whom the then-cop had helped send to prison for life without parole 14 years ago. Hamilton cleverly joins the plots, leaving but one disappointment: how long it takes Alex to learn to place his trust in others with care. (Sept.) FYI: This book won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Award for Best First Private Eye Novel of 1997. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Just what rookie shamus Alex McKnight needs: Maximilian Rose, the maniac who killed his partner and sidelined Alex himself from the Detroit Police Department 14 years ago is now back in his life again, phoning him late at night, leaving him red roses as mementos, and sending him letters bragging about what he's going to do now that he's out of stir. Except that he isn't out, not according to the best authorities at Jackson State Prison, who report that he hasn't left the grounds or even seen any visitors for years and years and has no plans to start now. So Alex, who's already up to his neck protecting wealthy gambler Edwin J. Fulton III from whoever's killing the bookmakers he owes, not only has to worry about Fulton's imperious mother, who demands that he leave his cabin in the North Peninsula woods to babysit her son; and about Fulton's wife Sylvia, Alex's ex-lover; and about Sault Ste. Marie police chief Roy Maven, who'd just as soon clap Alex in prison as offer him a cup of coffee; and about Leon Prudell, the resentful ex-p.i. who used to work for the Fultons until Alex came alonghe's also got to worry about Rose as well. But how can Rose be messing with Alex's head when he's never budged from Jacksonor, if Alex's nemesis isn't Rose, how can he know details of the case Alex has never told a soul? If the answers are more ingenious than surprising, Hamilton, winner of St. Martin's 1997 award for Best First Private Eye Novel, unreels the mystery with a mounting tension many an old pro might envy.
Library Journal Review
This story of a Detroit cop who moves to a woodsy Michigan town but can't escape murder won St. Martin's 1997 award for Best First Private Eye Novel, then 1999 Shamus and Edgar awards. Nick Sullivan will do the narration. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
