Allison & Busby, 2001

With his marriage in trouble, lawyer Eric Ward has thrown himself into his job. He's good at what he does but some of his current cases don't look promising. The owners of a toxic waste dump are willing to talk settlement, but the leader of the neighborhood group Eric is representing wants revenge for his son's illness. The muckraking dumpster-diver is holding out for vindication rather than the slap on the wrist that he could get. Finally, a newspaperman comes to him with rumors about insurance fraud involving the man Eric suspects has taken up with his wife. When one of his clients is killed and another suspected of the murder, Eric's life gets more complicated in a hurry.

Author Roy Lewis (see other BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by this author) switches between Eric's point of view and that of DCI Charlie Spate. Spate is working the cases for the police and hopes to pin something on a mobster who has his hands in both prostitution and drugs in the northern England city of Tyne. Spate has problems of his own--having been drummed out of the Met and suffering from an acute case of lust for one of his female detectives. Neither man trusts the other and both insist on working the case from their own angles.

THE NIGHTWALKER is an interesting mystery filled with characters with histories, pains, and goals that are certain to be frustrated. Unfortunately, Lewis doesn't completely deliver on the potential of his characters or the story. Eric and Spate both seem too beaten by the world to fight back with all of their force--and often seem to approach the mystery with that same attitude.

Two Stars

Ready to buy it now? Click the BUY button.

Visit Amazon.com to read more reviews or to purchase THE NIGHTWALKER from Amazon.com (hardback).

Rather buy it from Barnes and Noble?
Click this link for THE NIGHTWALKER from Barnes & Noble.com

• See our latest mystery/suspense and thriller reviews
• See more BooksForABuck.com reviews of police/police procedural mysteries
• Go to Mystery Review Central
• Return to Home
• Enjoy great mysteries? Check out the BooksForABuck.com e-book mysteries--full-length eNovels at highly affordable prices
• What do you think? Too generous? Too stingy? Or did I miss the entire point? Send your comments to publisher@booksforabuck.com. Give me the okay to use your name and I'll publish all the comments that fit (and don't use unprintable language).