Bone Key

Russell goes off for a few minutes and one of the local hustlers approaches Deal. Dequarius Moyes seems to want a job and Deal tries to brush him off. Dequarius insists that he needs to talk to him before being thrown out by the bartender. Deal quickly forgets all about him when the lounge singer appears. The beautiful woman is his old flame Annie, from a time long before Janice his current wife from whom he is separated.

The next day, Deal and Russell see Dequarius being beat on by a local police officer. Without a handy videotape camera, they intervene and physically stop the officer from beating the defenseless Dequarius. Both are thrown in jail and almost as quickly released because of the intervention of Franklin Stone. Stone also manages to get Dequarius released. Before long, Dequarius is brutally murdered and Deal seems to have involved himself in something that he does not understand. The Police are unhelpful, to say the least, and the mysterious Stone seems to be pulling unseen strings beyond his land development plans and using his influence to manipulate everyone to an end only he can foresee.

This book is a significant improvement over the last novel and is a refreshing return to what made this author interesting to read. The writing is tight with plenty of action and intriguing characters. And once again, just when the reader thinks he knows all there is to the John Deal character, the author manages to add a new nuance to him. This is a fast paced mystery and a story that while it is very complex, moves along at a strong pace. It is nice to see Les Standiford back on his game and this recent effort makes him a pleasure to read again.

Recommended.

Even before the two men meet, a local hustler named Dequarious tries to tell Deal something in a local restaurant. Before he can, Dequarious is thrown out. The next time the builder sees the hustler, John tries to stop a local police officer from killing Dequarious. He succeeds but shortly thereafter, Dequarious is found by Deal shot to death in his hotel room, a wine label in his hand. John Deal is determined to find out who is behind the killing or die trying.

Les Standiford has written a complex, multi-layered crime novel that will pique and maintain reader interest from first page to last. The author is a master of characterization, populating his novel with people readers will like even though the audience knows that these individuals can operate on the wrong side of the law. BONE KEY is a mystery that is impossible to figure out until the author is ready to reveal the answers.

Harriet Klausner