Death at Charity's Place

I've read a few of the recent Brad Coyne books and found myself beginning to lose interest in the main character, but decided to check out the very beginning with the introduction of the character.This definitely is a strong debut for the lead character.At this point in time, he hasn't been involved with murders. However, a distraught mother hires him to investigate her son's apparant suicid. Somewhat reluctantly and unsure whether he will find any evidence contradicting the suicide theory, but with the promise of a staggering payoff if he can indeed find that this was an accidental death, starts digging.It's obvious that the author truly loved his character and spins a well plotted mystery story.

After reading two of the later Brady Coyne novels I finally made my way back to the beginning, Death at Charity's Point. Written in 1984, this is Tapply's first Brady Coyne story. Brady, Boston lawyer to the rich and elderly, is asked by his client Florence Gresham to investigate the apparent suicide of her younger son, George. She has already lost her husband and older son and can't believe that mild-mannered, soft spoke George would just jump of a cliff. To peak Brady's interest (after all, he is a lawyer, not an investigator) she offers him 10% of George's life insurance policy, which has a clause rendering it non-payable in the event of a suicide. The lure of $100,000 tempts Brady, and his feelings of obligation to a client that has already lost everyone else she loves, is enough to push him over the edge (bad pun on my part) and accept the job. Brady meets with local police, the medical examiner and fellow teachers at the private school where George worked. At the beginning, all signs pointed to suicide, but as Brady delves a little deeper and gets involved with one of George's co-workers he starts questioning the real cause of death. Can he solve the mystery before he himself takes a leap off of Charity's Point? I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Brady Coyne, the early years. I did not find Death at Charity's Point quite as full of twists and turns as the later novels by Tapply, but this was a darn good first novel. I highly suggest reading the Brady Coyne novels in order to get a good feel for their main character.

This re-release of the first Brady Coyne novel is certainly welcome. From the get-go, Tapply spins a thrilling yarn that's the very best kind of fact-based fiction. Even if he doesn't want to be one, Brady makes a heck of fine detective. A keeper, for sure. Check out the new intro that Tapply wrote specifically for this editon.