Nasty Cutter

Raymond Donne, ex-cop now a school teacher, gets in the middle of a murder investigation against his better judgment. His father's former law partner, Harry Stover, is murdered while being celebrated as Man Of The Year. And then Stover's office is broken into the same night. Who had motive to kill Stover? He's a nice man ... for a lawyer ... he does a lot of charitable work, most notably connecting low income kids with business owners. One of those kids happens to be one of Donne's former students. The twin young men, Bobby and Billy Taylor, were represented by Stover years ago. Bobby was accused of raping a young lady at a booze and pill party. He served 10 years and is currently working for his brother, who has now retired as a pro baseball player. Are they involved? It turns out that Stover was having an affair. Was his mistress involved? His wife? His son? Donne quietly .. more or less .. begins his own brand of 'helping' the police solve the case. This was a fast and entertaining read. There are a lot of characters to take a look at, but the author has woven them all in a way they don't get lost in the shuffle. Although this is a book in a series, this one is great as a stand-alone. The characters are cleverly drawn. I liked the interaction between the main characters .. especially Donne and his long-standing girlfriend, who happens to be a reporter. There are moments of humor, and moments where they each wonder if the relationship is going to work. The story premise is a good one and the ending really caught me by surprise. Many thanks to the author / Severn House Publishers / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.