Published March 13, 2012 by Minotaur Books
Source: ARC for review
Genre: mystery
Book description: "When a delivery person for the Eagle-Examiner ends up in the paper's obituaries, investigative reporter Carter Ross decides to write a human interest piece on her. But at the funeral, he learns that this kind-hearted victim of a hit-and-run may have had a few enemies - including the publisher of their own paper. Suddenly Carter's little story is big news. And the deeper he digs, the deadlier it gets..."
Comments: As a former newsroom employee, I was amused and just a bit delighted that this mystery was set in a newspaper, with managers, editors, reporters, newspaper deliverers, union employees, and of course, a publisher. It described a familiar environment. I was even more amused when the publisher and possibly an editor of the paper became the main suspects in this murder mystery. Toward the last quarter of the book, I guessed who the hit-and-run culprit was, although I didn't guess the motives.
A delightful read for me, especially the first half of the book, set in the newsroom, with its own code of behavior, rules, and modus operandi. I recommend this book for those who also love a good mystery and are curious about the inner workings of a newspaper.
Brad Parks is the first author to win both the Shamus Award and the Nero Award for Best American Mystery for his debut novel, Faces of the Gone. A former reporter for The Washington Post and The [Newark] Star-Ledger, he lives in Virginia, and this is his third novel in the mystery series.
