Shadow of Death

The mystery of it keeps you in doubt until the very last page, but the best thing about this book is that it gives you an insider's view of what really goes on in a politician's mind.

Brady Coyne, a Boston attorney with a wealthy clientele, prefers to avoid the courtroom, handling the wills, divorces, and legal missteps of his clients in the strictest confidence. For his discretion and loyalty, he earns their undying gratitude--and very large checks. When Jimmy D'Ambrosio, a powerful, old-style Boston king-maker, approaches him to investigate the husband of Ellen Stoddard, a woman whose campaign for Senate he is managing, Coyne hires Gordon Cahill, an equally discreet private investigator, to check out Albert Stoddard, a history professor at Tufts University. Within days, however, Cahill is dead in a car crash, and the state police think it may be homicide. When Stoddard himself goes missing, his wife prohibits Coyne from telling the state police and from helping in the investigation of the death of Gordon Cahill, Coyne's friend.Though there is occasional violence and some tough-as-nails confrontations, the Brady Coyne series offers a unique approach to the detective story. Emphasizing the interrelationships of realistically portrayed characters more than hard-boiled action, author Tapply uses the characters' dialogue with Brady Coyne to give them life. Though some of these characters are easily recognizable local stereotypes, he gives them credibility by mixing these fictional characters with real-life characters. Jimmy D'Ambrosio is fictional, but he is described as having been the campaign manager of the real former mayor, Kevin White, a quintessential Boston politician. The fictional Cahill worked as an undercover state policeman, investigating the Winter Hill Gang, a real gang, one of whose members is on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List. And when Coyne goes to the North End to talk to Vincent Russo, a restaurateur and mob boss, he is talking to a fictional character with roots in real Boston history. Tapply's folksy narrative style, the honest simplicity of his descriptions, and the incorporation of local color from Boston and the woodlands of southern New Hampshire, give the novel a breadth and "charm" missing from more action-oriented series. Relatively simple in its presentation and style, the mystery is also simple, and while the reader will probably be surprised by one plot twist at the end, the chances are that s/he will not be very surprised by the ultimate solution to the mystery. The reading of the novel is so pleasurable, however, and the dialogue and interaction of the characters are so much fun to observe that I will gladly trade "shock and awe" for good, old-fashioned story-telling like this, anyday. Mary Whipple

Attorney Brady Coyne is hired by the campaign manager of a senatorial candidate to conduct a discreet investigation of the candidate's husband. Brady hires his friend, former undercover cop turned PI, to tail the husband. When the PI is killed in a staged car crash, the campaign manager who evoked attorney/client privilege prevents Brady from helping the police. Since he cannot help the police and feels a responsibility for his friend, he decides to investigate himself. He ends up opening a Pandora's box of secrets going back thirty years.Brady Coyne is a nice-guy lawyer. Recent novels featuring him have been a bit bland because frankly nice guys in crime novels are boring. This recent novel is the best one in years. The characters were well defined and the plot of suspenseful. Brady is still laid back and too nice, but this time he suffers some angst which makes him more human. It was a pleasant page turning, quickly read book.

Political kingmaker Jimmy D'Ambrosio knows that spousal trouble when one runs for elected office means trouble for the candidate. Jimmy D worries about Albert, husband of the US Senater from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts candidate Ellen Stoddard. Jimmy D asks old friend Boston based attorney, Brady Coyne to hire the most discreet private investigator to determine why Albert is acting strange.Brady employs private eye Gordon Cahill, who learns what is bothering Albert, but dies in a car accident that looks more like deliberate murder before he can meet with Brady. Knowing that Gordon concentrated on Albert's Southwick, New Hampshire cabin, Brady travels there, but stirs the pot enough that someone else is also killed. Cops in two states are interested in Brady, his unidentified client, and solving two homicides.SHADOW OF DEATH is a strong Coyne entry, perhaps the best in the last decade. The story line moves at a rapid pace as Brady is caught between client confidentiality and the homicides. The support characters propel the tale forward while Brady seems refreshed as if he rolled back the clock twenty years. Fans of the hero or the New England who-done-it scene will enjoy William G. Tapply's latest story runs on all cylinders.Harriet Klausner