Brian Kavanagh (preferring his nickname Brick) enjoyed visiting Ireland in the first 3 months of retirement, recovering after trauma from his last case as a homicide detective. Brick never anticipated that his time on return home to Washington, D.C., would include a job offer investigating a cold case and helping his former partner Ron Hayes through an almost unfathomable personal experience.

Moving beyond a police procedural, the storyline illustrates the complexities of life for a newly retired officer. It also simultaneously elucidates whether, in the official capacity of a job using law enforcement experience and in the case of his partner Ron Hayes, there is the drama and tension created by schedules when personal and professional priorities overlap and are competing priorities.

I enjoyed the 2nd book in the series even more than "Relentless." The short chapters assist in ratcheting the suspense and twists in the cases. Iā€™m ready to read Book 3 whenever available.

A Publisherā€™s Note at the end of the novel shares, "The two novels stand on their own and can be read in any order." However, I hope readers will read this series in order, although the stories stand independently, to fully appreciate the character development of all the recurring characters, especially the thoughts, motivations, and actions of Brick and his former partner Ron Hayes. ( )

In Duplicity, book two of the Brick Kavanagh Mystery Series, author Shawn Wilson transports the reader back to Washington D.C., for another intriguing mystery story that will keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.

After spending three months in Ireland, retired Homicide Detective Brian "Brick" Kavanagh returns to Washington D.C. to contemplate the next phase of his life. Brick is offered the opportunity to train criminology graduate students on how to investigate cold cases. A specific case investigating the three year old hit-n-run cold case of Lincoln University student Henry Yang intrigues Brick, and he agrees to investigate the cold case. Before starting the investigation into the cold case, Brick travels to Chicage to meet up with Nora Breslin, an Aer Lingus flight attendant that he met while in Ireland, but a frantic call from Brick's former partner, Homicide Detective Ron Hayes sends him back to Washington D.C. to help investigate the kidnapping of Ron's wife Jasmine and their twin babies. The two cases leads Brick on a complicated investigative journey when the hit-n-run cold case may have political implications, while the search for his former partner's family is intense and baffling, as he tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together for both investigations.

Author Shawn Wilson weaves a slow-building and suspenseful tale that follows Brick's investigations to uncover the truth behind the hit-n-run cold case, and the complicated kidnapping case of his former partner's family. I loved reading this action-packed story. Brick's observations and detail to the police procedure used within the investigations kept me intrigued as he slowly put the pieces of the mystery puzzle together for both cases, especially when there is complications, intensity, and danger around every corner.

The reader will be easily drawn into this richly descriptive plot that will keep them guessing as Brick's no nonsense and determined investigations uncovers a growing list of possible suspects, motives, and clues, while it will also leave the reader completely shocked by the surprise ending.

Duplicity has enough drama, tension, action, intrigue, and unexpected twists and turns that will take the reader on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Tours.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/11/duplicity-by-shawn-wilson-vbt... ( )

Duplicity by Shawn Wilson is a recommended investigative novel.

Retired homicide detective Brian (Brick) Kavanagh is returning home to Washington, D.C. after spending three months in Ireland recovering from the trauma of his last case. It is good to be home among friends and, even better, he and Nora, an Aer Lingus flight attendant, are planning to continue seeing each other when she is in the USA.

When a job opening at a local university presents itself, Brick isn't especially interested at first. The job would be training criminology students on techniques in solving cold cases, but the case does intrigue him. Professor Grace Alexander has chosen the hit-and-run death of a grad student where the prime suspect has diplomatic immunity and the case file is interesting. Brick proceeds on to Chicago to spend a weekend with Nora, when he receives distressing news. Jasmine, the wife of his former partner and friend, Rob, and their infant twins have disappeared, and possibly were kidnapped. Brick rushes back to support Rob and assist in any way to finding his wife and children.

This follows the first Brick Kavanagh novel Relentless, although you can read Duplicity without having read the first novel. Duplicity is a very comfortable procedural to read. The chapters are short which keeps the narrative highly focused on the two cases presented as the plot moves along at an even pace. Both cases are resolved at the end of the novel.

As mentioned, this is a very comfortable novel to read. Brick treats women with respect, which is appreciated, but he's also kind of a bland character. The opening chapter set in Ireland was interesting, but it didn't add anything to the rest of the story, beyond adding Nora as a character. All of this could have been covered in a few paragraphs. There are a lot of descriptions of what people are eating or drinking, which was different in an investigative novel. There was also a bit too much telling of the story versus showing the story.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Oceanview Publishing.
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