Category: Book Reviews

Book Review: Friend of the Departed by Frank Zafiro

TG Wolff

Friend of the Departed is a PI Mystery. Stef Kopriva used to be a cop, but that was more than ten years ago. A shooting, a wrong call, and a deep, personal relationship with a liquor bottle took him from a stand-up guy to the bottom of the barrel. He’s unofficially in the business of doing favors for people who need help. This time the call comes from Joel Harrity, the defense lawyer who came when Stef was the one calling.   

Bottom line: Friend of the Departed is for you if you like gritty heroes and stories that zig before they zag.

Strengths of the story. Kopriva is a well-developed character, having been part of Zafiro’s River City series and then taking the lead in Waist Deep (Book 1), Lovely, Dark & Deep (Book 2) and several short stories. You get to know his backstory through the cops who won’t let Stef forget what he did. This one opens with Stef at the bottom of a bottle and fighting his way out.

The premise for this story is classic. A defense attorney is being asked to take a case. His potential client, however, is accused of killing her husband, a friend of the attorney. Joel Harrity is the best defense attorney in River City and he’s not afraid of tough cases. But, if he’s going to take this one, he needs to know that she didn’t do it. With nothing to go on, he calls Stef.

The mystery gives puzzlers a lot to work with. The victim, financial advisor Henry Brassart, was struck by a car while out for a run. The force shot him into a wooded area, where he struck a tree, dying from his injuries. With a nice life insurance policy and a fairly new damage to her car, the cops look at his wife, Marie. She says she didn’t do it.

As so often happens, Henry was well liked and respected. He didn’t have any enemies. He was a top performer at work, a leader in his company. So who killed a perfectly likeable man?

I like where Zafiro took Stef in this book. In the first two books, Stef is working to get out of his 10-year slump. In this book, I felt like he turns the corner and, at the end, is ready to start living life forward rather than in the past.

This is the 3rd book in the series. The mystery is completely standalone, and no past Stef Kopriva experience is needed. The character development does continue from the previous books. I don’t think you need to read the prior books to understand where Stef is, but certainly reading the prior books will enhance your appreciation for his progress.

Where the story fell short of ideal: Standing at the end and looking back, there isn’t much to pick on. The characters are true to their nature, especially Stef, which is important because he’s the hero who keeps us turning the pages. The whodunnit is nicely constructed, the mystery resolved through conversations that reveal the smallest deviations.

About FRANK ZAFIRO

Frank Zafiro writes gritty crime fiction from both sides of the badge. Frank served in the U.S. Army from 1986-91 in military intelligence as a Czechoslovak linguist. In 1993, he became a police officer in Spokane, Washington. During his career, he worked as a patrol officer, corporal, and detective. In 2002, he became a sergeant and entered into leadership roles. He was fortunate enough to command patrol officers, investigators, the K-9 unit, and the SWAT team. He retired from law enforcement in 2013 as a captain in order to write full time and to teach.

Book Review: Lovely, Dark and Deep by Frank Zafiro

TG Wolff

Lovely, Dark, & Deep is a PI Mystery. Stef Kopriva used to be a cop, but that was ten years ago. A shooting, a wrong call, and a deep, personal relationship with a liquor bottle took him from a stand-up guy to the bottom of the barrel. He’s unofficially in the business of doing favors for people who need help. This time it’s a pimp who needs a poor but clean White boy to look into who put one of his girls in the hospital.

Bottom line: Lovely, Dark, & Deep is for you if you like gritty heroes so far from perfect they’re exactly what a story needs.

Strengths of the story. Kopriva is a well-developed character, having been part of Zafiro’s River City series and then taking the lead in Waist Deep and several short stories. You get to know his backstory through cops who won’t let Stef forget what he did.

The premise for this story is simple but interesting. Stef and his coffee buddy, Adam, watch an odd exchange featuring one of the most beautiful women either have seen. A year after Rolo, a pimp who runs a good part of River City’s night life, beat him and took Stef’s prized possession, the man comes knocking. One of his girls was beaten to within an inch of her life, he needs to know who did it. That’s all Stef has to do. Rolo will take it from there.

But it isn’t as simple as Stef or Rolo hope. It never is when Stef is involved, which is what keeps those pages turning.

Where the story fell short of ideal: Standing at the end and looking back, this story is pretty solid. Zafiro excels at endings that complete the story, but aren’t happy endings. Without giving anything away, the guilty characters are too smart to run their mouths for the likes of me. So we know whodunnit. The how and why are a little less firm.

About FRANK ZAFIRO

Frank writes gritty crime fiction from both sides of the badge. Frank served in the U.S. Army from 1986-91 in military intelligence as a Czechoslovak linguist. In 1993, he became a police officer in Spokane, Washington. During his career, he worked as a patrol officer, corporal, and detective. In 2002, he became a sergeant and entered into leadership roles. He was fortunate enough to command patrol officers, investigators, the K-9 unit, and the SWAT team. He retired from law enforcement in 2013 as a captain in order to write full time and to teach.

Book review: Waist Deep by Frank Zafiro

TG Wolff

WAIST DEEP is a PI Mystery. Stef Kopriva used to be a cop. But that was ten years ago. A shooting, a wrong call, and a deep, personal relationship with a liquor bottle took him from a stand-up guy to the bottom of the barrel. A fight at a hockey game, one in the stands, not on the ice, reconnects Stef with a guy from high school. He has a problem. His 16-year-old daughter has run away. The cops aren’t looking for the little beauty, so he asks Stef for help, who agrees. And things get shady, fast.

Bottom line: WAIST DEEP is for you if you like gritty heroes so far from perfect they’re exactly what a story needs.

Strengths of the story. Zafiro excels at writing characters who are less than perfect. His are not gentlemen detectives who’ve lived charmed lives and solve crimes while hovering above the chaos, like Philo Vance, Lord Peter Wimsey, or Sherlock Holmes. Oh, no. His characters are down in the muck, fighting to keep their heads above water. Stef Kopriva was an ensemble character in Zafiro’s first three River City series books. Ten years after that book three, Kopriva steps out on his own with this full-length case. Kopriva is a well developed character, a loner who has isolated himself from the world and now needs that world if he’s going to find the runaway teen. Maybe it’s Kopriva had already been a part of Zafiro’s world that doesn’t feel like a first book in a series.

Like the leading character, the story scenario is a little dirty, kinda uncomfortable, and totally intriguing. A teen has run away but why and to where? She seems to have caring parents…or is that a front. She was blessed with popularity at school…or is that a curse. She definitely attracts the kind of attention that can destroy a teen, mentally and emotionally if not physically. You keep turning the pages wanting the answer…is she dead?

Where the story fell short of ideal: There weren’t many things to pick on with this book. Standing at the end and looking back to the beginning, the logic is solid. Characters are true to themselves and the writing and editing are solid. There are unsatisfying elements, but they aren’t flaws of the storytelling. They’re just a reader wanting better things to happen to the hero we’re cheering for.

Check Frank Zafiro and Stef Kopriva out for yourself.

Book Review: The Last Kind Word by David Housewright

TG Wolff

THE LAST KIND WORD is a PI Mystery. Mac McKenzie is up to his neck in trouble, but this time, it’s not his fault. He’s doing a little favor for the FBI and the ATF. The trouble this time is guns, the illegal kind that the ATF mighta lost track of. When a member of a gang of thieves is caught using said gun, McKenzie is asked to infiltrate and to the impossible.

Bottom line: THE LAST KIND WORD is for you if you like hard boiled PIs who think on their feet and stay one step ahead of everyone else. . . well, no more than a half-step behind.

Strengths of the story. In full disclosure, I am a huge Mac McKensie fan. I began with book 6, JELLY’S GOLD, which I know is totally weird for a reader, but that’s my reality. Rushmore “Mac” McKenzie is an ex-cop who hit a big payday and now is somewhere between the quick-witted Indiana Jones and a relentless avenging angel. Book 10, THE LAST KIND WORD, was an action-packed read that did not disappoint.

One strength of this story in particular is the way Housewright opened it. He drops us right in the middle of the action and lets up fend for ourselves for a few pages before enlightening us to the scheme. The set up was masterful with frenemies coming together to bait a trap.

The story itself is well crafted. Set in a small Minnesota town, there are no secrets among this close knit population. Mac has to think fast as he works to maneuver the gang of thieves to reveal their gun dealer. He didn’t expect the “gang” to be a dysfunctional family, down on their luck due to a crummy economy. He didn’t expect to like them. He didn’t expect to be planning the heist of the century.

Standing at the end and looking back, the plot is solid. The mystery is a “how they gonna catch’em”, meaning we know from the beginning who the criminal is. There are elements of conspiracy and thriller stories that drive the pace and keep you guessing on how Mac is going to straighten the mess out.

The number one thing this book is…is fun!

Where the story fell short of ideal: I didn’t find a lot to complain about with THE LAST KIND WORD. Mac is his usual, larger-than-life self. The usual supporting cast have a minor role in this one, so it works well as a stand alone or for a new reader to the series.

THE LAST KIND WORD was released from Minatour Books in 2013 and is available from AMAZON LINK and other book retailers. Check out David’s website at https://www.davidhousewright.com/