Brady Coyne mystery good.

Running for governor on the Republican ticket, Tom Baron needs his image to be squeaky clean. He employs men like Brady Coyne, a compassionate Boston attorney, to keep problems far away from his campaign. But when his son doesn’t come home one night, Tom’s political strategy becomes a criminal matter.

His son’s girlfriend has been murdered, and the boy has no alibi. To protect his friend’s political ambitions, Brady digs into the investigation, finding a trail of drugs and corruption that stretches far across the Eastern seaboard.

I’ve read many of Tapply’s books and regret his passing. I’ll continue until I’ve read all of them. This happens to be one of the early ones I had missed. (They needn’t be read in order.)

Tom Baron has a problem. He's running for governor when his son's girlfriend is found dead with cocaine in her body and his son has disappeared, obviously a person of interest for the cops. So he calls his lawyer, Brady Coyne, who very reluctantly agrees to help look for the son. Never one to bend the rules Brady happens on a trail that may very well test his friendship with Tom and throw the gubernatorial race into turmoil. Reluctant to participate in what’s normally better done by the police, Brady is dragged into researching some things he’d rather not know about.

I only wish there had been more legal shenanigans.

The more exciting moments are leavened by Tapply’s prosaic view of the law: ;“I spent the next hour or so on the phone, doing the things that make the legal profession exciting. I set up two luncheon meetings with attorneys for the next week, I declined an invitation to serve on an ad hoc committee for the Bar Association. I checked back with the Coast Guard, which had not found Frank Paradise’s boat. I reconfirmed my golf date with Charlie McDevitt. I called a travel agent about a junket to the Madison River in Montana. I touched base with a few clients. A thrill a minute. Real Perry Mason stuff. ( )

I love this series! Brady is helping a local politician client whose son's girlfriend has been murdered and the boy has disapppeared. He then turns up dead in Brady's kitchen. Surprise ending and you don't find out until the very end why it's called the Vulgar Boatman. ( )