It’s been awhile since I’ve posted much and, while it is not an excuse, the reason is that I have been working on a new mystery featuring a brand new character named Jake Scott.
I have been wrestling with ideas about the best way to introduce Jake to my amazing readers. He’s not your ordinary hero. In fact, in his mind he’s not a hero at all. He’s a bored and lonely former reporter, having lost his wife to an aneurysm, his job to technology and his daughter to a boyfriend in another city.
There are many steps to go through before the book is published, so it will be a few months before you will be able to read it. But, as part of the process, Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) have been sent to a handful of readers for early feedback. The first comments arrived yesterday from Cathy S. who blogs under Cath N’ Kindle Book Reviews.
Cathy has captured the essence of Jake Scott perfectly, so there is no better way to introduce him to you than through her words. Take it away, Cathy.
Searching for Truth by Barry Finlay
“Having enjoyed my first encounter with this author (The Burden of Darkness), it was with great enthusiasm that I dived into this book, and what a joy. I was promised a new protagonist (Jake Scott), and he couldn’t be more different than The Burden of Darkness’s Marcia Kane.
Jake Scott is feeling his way around recent widowerhood and retirement. The highlight of his week: Saturday morning coffee with a motley crew: three men and Constable Danielle Perez. As a former investigative journalist, Jake is just the chap to help Danielle look into a double murder from three years previously. The pandemic has delayed so many things, not least the legal process, and it’s taken a long time for the main suspect to be convicted. But Danielle isn’t convinced the right man is in prison. With just a grumpy cat for company and little motivation in his newfound, reluctant singledom, Jake takes up the offer to help.
I really enjoyed this. Jake makes a refreshingly different hero. He’s not young and handsomely six-packed. He’s a bit of a Luddite, a technophobe, but there’s a steadfastness and sincerity about him. And quietly smart. It’s rather lovely witnessing his emergence from his cocoon of grief and loneliness after the tragic loss of his beloved wife. The attractive Dani and her stereotypically monosyllabic, grumpy teenager are quite the tonic. But little do the three of them know what serious danger will befall them by wanting to put right a wrong.
Extremely well composed and observed, this is really edge-of-your-seat, hold-your-breath writing and compelling right to the very end. I consider myself quite a good guesser of whodunnits, but Mr F had me well stumped.
Jake (and Dani) have a sequel in them, I know it. I certainly hope it.”
