Second Sight: A Brady Coyne and J.W. Jackson Mystery

There's a gala TV event about to happen on the Vineyard, and J.W. gets hired to be the driver for the lead entertainer. Brady Coyne also arrives on the island, in search of a teenage girl he needs to re-unite with her dying father. Both J.W. and Brady encounter a spiritual guru with an unusual camp and strange bodyguards named Simon Peters. Something is definitely amiss, and multiple people connected to either J.W.'s protection of the entertainer, or Brady's search for the girl, end up dead. The stories merge together and culminate in a climax that leaves your heart racing. Delish!

Many authors have tried writing mysteries with one another. There are several approaches you can use: One story featuring both authors' characters; one story alternating narrators; two stories similar only in theme; and two intertwined stories. The last is the most difficult, and few collaborate in the mystery genre to try. Thankfully for mystery fans, Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply (real life fishing buddies) took on this difficult challenge and produced a gem in Second Sight. I have been reading Mr. Tapply's work for a couple of decades and had not read Mr. Craig's work before. So I started out with some doubts about how well I could appreciate the two together . . . especially since I had not read their first collaboration, First Light. The book opens with J.W. Jackson as narrator and I soon felt like I knew him as well as I do Brady Coyne, about whom I have been reading for so long. Chapters alternate narrators between J.W. and Brady, and this device works well until near the end when they are often in the same scenes and there's a bit of redundancy. J.W. is a retired cop whose beautiful wife wants him to settle down. When an FBI agent asks J.W. to escort a famous singer, it looks like an easy way to make a few bucks . . . until the agent tells J.W. to be sure and carry his gun. Many people like to get attention by harassing celebrities, but J.W. soon gets a sense that there's more going on. At the same time, Brady Coyne is called to the bedside of a dying friend who wants to reconcile with his missing daughter. The friend asks Brady to find her and bring her home. Except for a sense of duty and a good relationship with the young woman, Brady feels at sea doing this. But he soldiers on. Calling old friends of the young woman, Brady gets a lead to Martha's Vineyard where J.W. lives. With an upcoming benefit concert, there's no place to stay and J.W. offers to put Brady up. Once on the island, there paths diverge as J.W. drives the beautiful Evangeline around in disguise while Brady shows photographs of the missing young woman. Before long, dead bodies are stacking up like cordwood, and both J.W. and Brady fear that it's about to get worse. Will Brady find the girl before her father dies? Will she go see her father? Can J.W. keep Evangeline and her daughter safe? Those questions are kept open until near the very end when the two stories twist together engagingly. For those who are interested in ESP and psychics, there's a subplot in the book about a fortune teller that you will enjoy. Very nice work!

J.W. Jackson and Brady Coyne usually have their own escapades and their own mysteries to solve. But the men are friends and live only a few hours apart from each other, so it seems inevitable that on occasion their paths will cross. Authors Craig and Tapply have led them to do so in "Second Sight." Brady is helping a family friend find his missing daughter. J. W. has agreed to provide security for a high-profile visitor to Martha's Vineyard. The characters take turns narrating chapters, so readers eavesdrop on both men's prospectives. Both Massachusetts natives seem to find themselves in situations that they think are just a bit beyond their investigative capabilities. Other than that -- and their mutual love of fishing -- the two have unique approaches and personalities. It is their individualities and the dichotomies of their situations that make this combination novel intriguing and worth reading. J.W. is an ex-cop-turned-fisherman who lives to be on the beach. Brady is a hard-working lawyer up in Boston. J.W. is now an established family man, caring for wife Zee and kids Joshua and Diana. Brady's in a relationship that he's currently questioning. J.W. knows nearly every nook and cranny of Martha's Vineyard and has the contacts to follow up on leads. Brady is more familiar with the Boston metropolitan area and is less certain of the terrain he must cover for this assignment. And while J.W. is defending a famous celebrity who's known by millions by sight, Brady is searching for an average teenage runaway who hasn't left much of a trail. Two-thirds of the way through the book, the men realize that the fates of both of their charges hinge on what will happen at the Celebration of Humanity peace concert, which could be anything BUT peaceful. Once the two plots converge, it's all the reader can do to hang on and hope that the good guys will be able to prevent an unspeakable horror of 9-11 magnitude. The ultimate irony is that the action takes place on Martha's Vineyard, a prime vacation island and second home to some of The Rich and Famous. In "Second Sight," it's a hazardous and tragic place to find oneself. This book is a wonderful installment for readers of either mystery series. And if you "know" only J.W. Jackson or Brady Coyne, you'll be compelled to read the full series of "the other guy." Thanks to Phil and Bill for collaborating once again! This one's "delish."

Brady and J.W. are back together again on Martha's Vineyard. This time, each are working on separate projects - which of course end up entertwining. I was hesitant to purchase this book as the last collaboration between these two (I am a HUGE Brady Coyne fan, but not so much J.W.) was far from stellar (in my opinion). No such problems this time around. The story based primarily on a huge charity show staged on Martha's Vineyard which is a perfect breeding ground for sabotage and murder is perfectly written. There is a perfect blend of J.W. and Brady in this one and THANK GOD all of the fishing references are down to a minimum. Unfortunately, the last collaboration featured pages and pages of fishing stories and it really dragged the story down. This is not the case here. There is a genuine connection between the two main characters and both authors managed to retain their individual styles, while incorporating each other's writing. The suspense is wonderful and you truly do not really know who did it - until the end. We could probably do with a lot less adulation when it comes to J.W.'s wife. The authors insist on describing her beauty, intelligence and overall wonderfulness WAY TOO MUCH. It really interferes with the story, but this is a small detail. BUY THIS ONE. ITS WORTH THE PRICE.