Pawn — Ed Lynskey

For his next hardboiled outing, P.I. Frank Johnson accepts another infidelity case, this time Bunny Weld suspects her loutish husband, Joe Vic Sackett, is having an affair with his younger office manager, Charlie Stottlemyre. Of course, nothing is as it appears on the surface in Frank's world. Simple things become complicated, messy affairs where murder and violence come into play, as he probes deeper into Bunny's case. Frank depends on his long-time business partner Gerald Peyton, his medical examiner wife Dreema, and his brilliant but outspoken attorney Robert Gatlin. Critically acclaimed crime novelist James Crumley wrote of the P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery Series, With a plot as complex as your grandmother's crocheted doilies, Mr. Lynskey creates a portrait of the rural hill country that rings as true as the clank of a Copenhagen can on a PBR can, as does his handle on guns, love, and betrayal. This novel is well worth the read and makes me want more.