The book is the first in the Marty Singer series. I found it slow going. It was very drawn out with very little action until the end. Singer was trying to find the killer of cops, even though he was a retired Washington, D.C. homicide detective. He retired because of colorectal cancer.

There was also a relationship with another person, Amanda, which is not clearly explained. At first I thought she was his daughter, but then later he explains that she came into his like when her mother died. I am not sure if Singer investigated the death of her mother, or exactly the situation. ( )

Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, it works just fine as a stand alone.

Marty Singer returns to more private investigation work. His last case was forced upon him and he’s reluctant to take on this new case. He’s still fighting cancer and wants to focus his time and energy on that and enjoying what he can of his early retirement. But an aging cop, Sam Bloch, asks for his help in looking into four seemingly unrelated murders scattered across a few precincts. Right away, Marty is intrigued. On the surface, nothing appears to link the cases. Yet as he digs into the details, he begins to wonder if he isn’t dealing with a serial cop killer.

Once again, Matthew Iden delivers a captivating murder mystery. I really enjoyed Book 1 (A Reason to Live) and this book continues the same quality entertainment. Marty is a bit of a history buff, a little bit of a wise ass, and a sometimes lonely man who has his heart in the right pace. Amanda Lane, who we met in Book 1, continues to be his surrogate daughter. She’s graduating and has started applying for jobs, some of which could take her out of the DC metro area. Poor Marty has a little heart ache over that but would never ask Amanda to take a job closer to home if it’s not what she wanted.

The murder mystery itself was fascinating. There are details in each case that fit the theory of a serial cop killer, but then there are also a few details in some of the cases that don’t fit. So it’s a bit of a jumble upon first inspection. I really enjoyed watching Marty dig into these cases. The cops were undercover, incorporating themselves into various gangs in the area. The author did a great job of showing how that undercover work affected the cops’ families.

There’s some nitty gritty goodness for this story and it gave this almost hard-boiled cop ambiance to the plot. I like that things are messy and that Marty has to keep reminding himself that not everyone (outside of certain professions like cops and medical personnel) can look at crime scene photos the way he does. While the gruesome violence is made crystal clear to the reader, the author doesn’t linger over it. This isn’t a horror flick; it’s a great PI crime story with a few horrific details.

The ending was satisfying. The murder mystery had me guessing at the details until the big reveal. Marty experiences some danger and putting the killer away is a little slice of bitter justice. All in all, an excellent read.

The Narration: Lloyd Sherr continues to be an excellent pick for Marty Singer. I like his voice for wise-ass Marty. He has distinctive voices for all the other characters, doing a very good job with the female character voices as well. He tossed in several regional accents which was great. ( )

3 Stars

Caveat: This is book 2 in the Marty Singer series. I have read the first book in the series, A Reason to Live. While you can read this book as a stand alone novel, it would give you more insight into the characters if you read the first book in the series. I couldn’t dig up my review for A Reason to Live, but it was another 3 star book in my opinion.

Review: Someone is killing cops. Four seemingly unrelated murders, except for one thing that ties them all together. They were all cops. And Washington DC bureaucracy being what it is, none of the departments seem to want to work with one another to solve these cases. A concerned police lieutenant approaches retired homicide detective Marty Singer and asks him to help put the pieces together that will help get these cases solved and get a cop killer off the street.

Not a bad formula, right? I know it’s been done before and in some cases it’s been done better. But there’s something just very likeable and approachable about Marty Singer. He’s a grizzled old homicide detective who isn’t going comfortably into his retirement. He still has a few friends, a few tricks up his sleeves and need to find out what happened to these cops. I like that he is a little old fashioned and really follows the “devil is in the details” mentality. I think the best part of the book is Marty, he’s just someone you really come to like. Being the main character, you expect him to be well developed, and the author really did deliver on this.

The story suffered a bit though. The mystery wasn’t really much of a mystery once Marty started his interviews and started piecing together the lives and jobs of the murdered officers. I knew why the cops were killed pretty quickly, I don’t know if this was meant to be more of a surprise, but it was pretty easy to figure out the why. The who was a complete surprise. I didn’t see it until just before the big reveal, I have to say that was really well done. I wish some of the background into the why was a little more detailed and a little more fleshed out. The whole book kind of had a one dimensional feel. In a city as vibrant as Washington DC and especially when dealing with the gang culture, it was missing a lot of visualization that could have easily taken this from a 3 star to a 5 star book.

I’m still unresolved as to whether I’m going to continue this series, but I probably will because I’m stubborn and I really do want to see what happens to Marty next. If you like a decent story about a really good old cop, I think you will find yourself liking these books. If you’re wanting a story with more in-depth character development and more attention to the smaller details, you may want to give this book a pass. ( )

From Lilac Wolf and Stuff

I beta-read and reviewed the first Marty Singer book, A Reason to Live. I thought it was excellent. I went through a phase of reading all the Michael Connelly books I could get my hands on. I also adore Jonathan Kellerman. My point being I love a well-written, gritty, crime novel. Iden does not disappoint. I honestly would put him up there with those 2 authors, and better than some others. Any publisher that didn't sign this guy should be regretting it now. The Marty Singer novels are superb.

Marty Singer, if you remember from the 1st novel, is a retired homicide detective fighting cancer. It means, our hero is unique. He has the knowledge and the experience as a 1st rate detective, but his illness leaves him easily tired and weakened overall. It means that, not only are you on the edge of your seat wondering who-done-it, but you are wondering if Marty is going to be able to complete the case with or without assistance. Not to mention wondering how his cancer is doing.

And I'm not lying when I say I was on the edge in this one. At one point I thought I was to the wrapping up stage. And this tends to be where I get bored. And I started relaxing and just wanted to see what Marty still had to do and if there'd be more news from his Doctor, when something so shocking took place I literally jumped.

It's the 2nd novel in the Marty Singer series, and fully worth the read. And BTW folks, that's not all he's done. He has several short story collections and other books that I found free at Amazon. Probably not free anymore, but reasonably priced since he's a self-published author. A diamond in the ruff, for sure! ( )