Review: REALLY GOOD READ
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2013
John Ray is the white sheep of his family. His father, now in a nursing home, was a well-known crime figure in Leeds as was his older brother. Even his mother had her own string of knock-offs going till her death.John tried to escape. He went to Cambridge and took jobs out of Leeds until his father's stroke brought him home to help his brother decide what to do with the family's used car business on Hope Road, a business that fronts for various criminal activities.As they discuss options, an unknown killer shoots his brother. A police officer, Denise, shows up and wipes the blood and brains off John's face. This begins their relationship. It also begins John's ownership/running of the car company as a regular business.A year or so later, when a girl is murdered, her body is found in one of John's cars. Denise's superior, an ex-lover, would love to arrest John, but Denise is his alibi. They were together at a banquet where John got Used Car Dealer of the Year, and in bed afterward. So her boss focuses on John's employee: a young man John's fond of, a man who's more like a partner, a man who could never kill anyone. The police don't agree.John is going to have to find out who killed the girl and why, or his employee is going to take the rap. Fighting the police, trying not to lose Denise, getting on the bad side of the crime lord who took his father's place, trying to keep his own reputation clean...He barely has time to eat but manages to make us drool with luscious food/wine descriptions.And all along the way, little hints tell us more is going on than we're being told. Each twist and turn proves John is not the most reliable narrator.This is a really good read. I plan to look for more John Ray mysteries.