Tough subject matter, good plot twist, one obvious clue... ( )

Kenzie is at his best attempting to track a murderer from his childhood. The gruesomeness of the killing is captured but he doesn't go over boar. Lehane's musing's as Kenzie fit the place and story well. Even the foreshadowing worked. The banter between K & Gennaro was forced at times but mostly it worked. I would like to see a K & G story w out an uber villain though this was subtle and had me guessing most of the way. Great sense of place. Almost a 5. ( )

4.5 really ( )

Started real slow but damn it got good. ( )

Apparently, Dennis Lehane is the king of Boston noir. I wasn't even sure if that was a thing, but I Googled it, and it seems every hit had the name Dennis Lehane in it. Patrick Kenzie fits the bill perfectly, a wise-cracking, rough and tumble PI who is equally at home with police or the Irish Mob. In fact, his partner, Angela Gennaro, is the grandaughter of some famous mob boss, and the mob will think twice, at least, before allowing anyone to mess with her although she does a pretty good job of that herself.

Together, they make a rather formidable team, and if they ever get rid of their conscience, I wouldn't want to be on their bad side. But they do, and it sometimes gets them in trouble. Even when up against a monster killer, like in this book, they don't want to just shoot him down first chance they get; at least, Patrick doesn't. I'm not so sure about Angie sometimes.

The strangest thing about this story is how they seem to know almost everyone involved, from the police, the mob, the killer. Just one big happy family. Well, maybe not exactly happy. Patrick's father was pretty despicable but he's dead now.

There are a lot of characters in this book to keep up with. Some are gone now, but I'm going to move right into the next book while the names are fresh in my mind. ( )