Wednesday, January 20, 2016

A Dead Falconer, a Missing Falcon, and Murder

Frank Pavlicek's old friend and fellow falconer, Chester Carew, is found dead on his property, and his falcon Elo is missing. The police call it a hunting accident, but Chester's wife isn't convinced. She hires Frank to look into what happened. Franks doesn't want to take her money, but his curiosity is aroused by her banker, who tells her he'll front the money for the investigation.

Nicole, Frank's college student daughter, helps in the investigation. Jake, Frank's ex-partner also shows up, but there's something Jake doesn't want to share with Frank. Jake insists it isn't impacting the case, but Frank can't be sure.

This is an action packed mystery. As Frank questions the townsfolk, the body count mounts and Frank is attacked. It appears that this is no hunting accident, but the motive is unclear.

The setting in West Virginia is perfect for the story, and the sport of falconry adds substantially to the background. I enjoyed learning something about this interesting sport.

The plot moves quickly. Although the characters are stereotypical, the plot is what's important in the novel. Frank is a typical hard-boiled PI. He isn't a deep character, but his propensity to put himself in the middle of danger keeps the story rolling.

If you like hard-boiled PI mysteries, this is a good one.


I received this book from Brash Book for this review.

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