DEVIL'S WAY

5 stars out of 5

After finishing this, the fourth in the series featuring private investigator Kate Marshall and her partner, Tristan Harper, I remain the fan who has enjoyed all the other books (as well as all the other books by this talented author, also a favorite). This time, the plot centers around a young boy who went missing 11 years ago.

Kate learned about the boy while she was hospitalized following an early-morning swimming accident; her roommate is an elderly woman named Jean, and the missing boy was her grandson Charlie. The pair, plus Jean's daughter and partner, were tent camping in a remote area known as Devil's Way; her daughter Becky, Jean says, blamed her for leaving the boy alone in their tent, if only for a short time.

Visits to the boggy area from which the boy disappeared don't reveal much, but more digging reveals that a social worker who apparently didn't think much of Becky's parenting or Jean's grandparenting was murdered not long after Charlie disappeared. That brings a major shift in the investigation, which in turn takes readers on twists and turns that lead to a not-too-surprising, but exciting end. At least that's the way it was for me, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Well done!

Devil's Way by Robert Bryndza (Raven Street Publishing, January 2023); 334 pp.