This is the debut novel from Timothy Patten, and it had some high points, but did not seem to be fleshed out as well as I would like. There was money, greed, politics, family turmoil and murder, but there was just something missing.

Johnny Barnes, the husband of an heiress, is arrested and charged with the murder of the family trust's bookkeeper, Eva. You are led to believe right from the beginning that he is innocent and is being framed of this murder. He believes his brother-in-law, who is in charge of the trust and all the family assets, has framed him. The DA, Janice Maitland, is a narcissistic female who will do whatever it takes to convict the man she truly believes is guilty even if it means tampering with the evidence. Because it seems no one is searching for the actual killer, Johnny and his friend go off looking for evidence on their own. When Johnny ends up in Fargo, North Dakota and is approached in a bar by two shady gentlemen, you know it is going from bad to worse. He goes hunting with these two men he does not know and almost gets killed, ending up in jail again. The novel suddenly shifts, someone else begins to help Johnny and it seems to come to a hasty ending. I enjoyed the story but it ended with me feeling I needed a little more.

I was provided with a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )