In Provincetown, Massachusetts, a quirky and small beach community, serious crime is not rampant. When Kenji Sole, a wealthy woman with a healthy appetite for powerful married men and kinky sex, is murdered, law enforcement from the Massachusetts Attorney General on down to the state police pressure the local Chief of Police to have Detective Frank Coffin and Officer Lola Winters investigate. In a high- profile murder several years ago, Coffin and Winters distinguished themselves with their discretion and skill.
Frank Coffin and Lola Winters are amazed at the late Kenji's ability to maintain and control a large stable of lovers. It gives them a legion of suspects and an admiration for Kenji's organizational skills. When they discover that Kenji was secretly videotaping her lovers, the wild search by the victims for the tapes becomes deadly. Frank and Lola scratch away attempting to separate the suspects' public personas from private while not stepping on too many influential people.
Frank's personal problems and family interruptions cause distractions he can ill afford. Lola was at his back years ago and saved his life, but Frank does not want the event to reoccur. Trying to stay focus, he and Lola sift through the videos that include more information than either want as they look for a desperate killer.
Jon Loomis' latest Winters and Coffin crime mystery is a winner. The brisk plot is enhanced by the vivid character development and the local color that surrounds the town and its inhabitants. The main protagonist, Frank, proves unpredictable as he winds through murder and his multiple family dramas. Lola is the perfect counterpoint as she struggles with her own relationship problems.
Jon Loomisβs sharp and witty debut,
High Season, starring Detective Frank Coffin, a onetime Baltimore homicide detective who came back to his hometown after one too many grisly crime scenes started to take their toll, was one of
The Washington Postβs best mysteries of the year and an editorβs choice title for
The New York Times Book Review. Coffin had hoped that the move to Provincetown, Massachusetts, would put an end to his panic attacks, but so far, the quirky Cape Cod tourist town has been every bit as brutal as the big city. Now in Loomisβs winning follow-up, Coffin has to get a grip in order to investigate the murder of one of the townβs most βpopularβ women.
Beautiful and the heir to a tremendous fortune, Kenji Sole had an active love life---a very active love life. When sheβs found stabbed to death on the floor of her bedroom dressed only in a negligee, itβs clear someone very close to her is probably responsible. Since she didnβt care about her many loversβ marital status, Frank and his partner Officer Lola Winters have their work cut out for them interviewing all of her lovers- --not to mention their jealous wives---to find out who killed the much-sought-after Ms. Sole.
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