Steve Hamilton - A Cold Day in Paradise (1998)
"I feel the weight of it inside me. And even though that bullet has been warming inside my body for fourteen years, on a night like this when it's dark enough and the wind is blowing, that bullet feels as cold as the night itself."
The man who carries that bullet just an inch from his heart is Alex McKnight, a former Detroit police officer who now works as a private investigator in upstate Michigan on the frozen banks of Lake Superior. McKnight was forced to retire on disability when he was critically wounded and his partner was murdered by a psychotic killer named Maximilian Rose.
That happened many years ago, though, and McKnight is trying to put it behind him. Rose is in prison serving a life sentence without parole and McKnight is getting on with his new existence in the small town of Paradise.
Trouble comes to Paradise, though, when two local bookies are brutally slaughtered and the perpetrator seems to be none other than Rose himself. McKnight tries to uncover the secret to the mystery, while at the same time confronting the fears that still lie deep in his marrow.
Alex McKnight is one of the most likeable and realistic protagonists for a mystery series that I have come across in quite a while. Most authors in the genre are unwilling to allow their heroes to show fear or weakness, to have them appear to be less than superhuman. Hamilton draws McKnight as a much more humble figure, though, showing him with all of his flaws, as well as his doubts and pain. Despite his humanness, though, McKnight lives up to his name, not so much do to his strength, as to his sense of conviction and honor.
When A Cold Day in Paradise was published in 1998, the Mystery Writers of America bestowed it with the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, a justly-deserved accolade. Author Steve Hamilton has done a wonderful job of crafting an intriguing, page-turning mystery that would be the envy of most more seasoned writers. This series is off to a very promising start.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Book Reviews | Permalink
