TOO CLOSE TO HOME

5 stars out of 5


As a rather prolific reader of books - for several years I've topped the 100 mark - it's not easy to find one that has a noticeably unusual plot or an unusually intriguing character. And since the lion's share of my reads are in the mystery/thriller genre, uniqueness is even more constrained. So it is that I'm delighted to find this series, of which this is the second installment.

Central character Paul McGrath is an interesting guy - a highly skilled former military guy who's back home in Albany, N.Y., working at the courthouse as a janitor and fancying himself a vigilante of sorts whose mission is to right society's wrongs. The case in point here involves his own father; McGrath believes he died as a result of a corrupt legal system that allowed the "murderer," a man named Alex Pardew, to go free. As McGrath pokes around in courtrooms to look for evidence that he's right - specifically a file that's gone missing - he meets a businessman who's been accused of arson. Yes, I did that, the man says, but emphasizes that it was because the man - a venture capitalist - is involved in shady deals, insider trading and otherwise bilking millions out of his clients.

Aha, McGrath says - right up my alley. So together with his former GI friend Robson - with whom he lives in his father's $40 million mansion - he sets out to investigate, with a priority on his father but the hope of seeing justice done in both cases. Along the way, he considers visiting the home in which he grew up, now inhabited by his father's former housekeeper. He hasn't purchased much furniture for the home he occupies with Robson, so perhaps, his friend suggests, he can take a few things from the other home. Just as he's about to agree, though, he learns that the housekeeper has died. Needless to say, that makes removal of any furniture much easier, but it raises other questions that may lead to answers McGrath isn't expecting to hear.

There are a few twists and surprises as the investigations proceed (complete with some awesome technology hacks by Robson and another computer-genius friend), but near the end come a frenzy of flashbacks that bring even more surprises for McGrath - and readers, of course. All in all a terrific (and, at 288 pages, quick) read and a great start to a new series. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

Too Close to Home by Andrew Grant (Ballantine Books, January 2020); 288 pp.