Books to die for
Selected monthly by IMBA, the Independent Mystery Booksellers
Association.
TWO TIME by Chris Knopf
Recommended by Maggie Mason, Lookin for Books, San Diego, CA:
Sam Acquillo is not the sort of Hampton resident
you read about in the society pages. He's from a working class
family, and is a formerly well-employed engineer. He gave up
his job in a spectacular fashion, and with it went the big house,
the wife who wanted the big house and a good relationship with
his daughter. He's working on mending the relationship with his
daughter.
Sam has moved into the home his
father built on land that is now very valuable. His dog is his
best companion, as Sam is a bit of a loner. He is friendly with
a cop, Joe Sullivan, a tavern keeper, and an attorney, Jackie
Swaitkowski. He might even be considered to be in a relationship
with the woman next door, Amanda, whom he met in the first book
in the series.
While waiting for Jackie at a restaurant, Sam watches
a man playing ball with a dog.
Just as Jackie finally shows up,
Sam realizes what bothered him about the happy scene, and pushes
Jackie for cover. His action saves their lives, but the other
people on the deck perish when an explosion rocks the restaurant.
Jackie’s injuries will
require plastic surgery, but she is still lucky to be alive.
Jonathan Eldridge--the man with the dog and the ball--was not
so lucky, since it was his car that blew up, with him inside.
Sam
finds out a bit about Jonathan Eldridge, and his cop friend Joe
asks Sam to talk to the widow. She's an agoraphobic and not an
easy interview for the police. Sam reluctantly agrees, and finds
that all is not what it seems. Eldridge was a financial consultant,
and he had three very unhappy clients, one of them his brother.
When Sam comes home one night to find Joe in a chair in front
of his house, stabbed, Sam is sure he was the intended victim,
and this makes him even more determined to find the truth.
The
first book in the series was a strong debut, and this second
book proves that the skill of the writer is very real. Sam is
a complicated man, and Knopf takes great pains to make him real.
You understand his motivations and his reactions to the way his
life has turned out. I liked the other characters, and the ending
of this book was a surprise.
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