NIGHT CANDY

4 stars out of 5

This is the fifth book in the series featuring ex-con Colleen Hayes, who's now out of prison - convicted of killing her husband - and working as a private eye (albeit unlicensed). It's also the first one I've read, but it certainly won't be the last; I'm intrigued by Colleen's rather unconventional approach to her work - sort of the means-justifies-the-end attitude. Often, ethics is far less important than outcome.

She does not, for instance, feel remorse for the murder she committed; he was, after all, seriously abusing their daughter Pamela, with whom Colleen is trying to reestablish a working relationship (with mixed results; not long ago, Pamela once again disappeared from Colleen's life). A bit of remorse there? You bet.

Meantime, a serial killer known as "Night Candy" has been targeting sex workers in San Francisco in the late 1970s. It's almost 1980 now, and Colleen's cop friend Owen - in jail for the murder of his wife Alice - needs her help (his police department colleagues seem to have washed their hands of him, and their disdain extends to Colleen as well). But she's convinced that Owen was railroaded and sets out to prove it despite doubts of her friends and colleagues.

Needless to say, that puts her squarely in the sights of the SFPD as well as police departments of surrounding communities to which her investigation takes her. Fairly early on she identifies her prime suspect, but pinning down the required evidence isn't the easiest of tasks (and certainly isn't without more toe-stepping and outright danger). By the end - and at least two more murders - she's frustrated enough to throw caution to the wind (again) to bring the case to a close. It's an action-packed adventure, although a little repetitive here and there - and there's plenty left to carry over to the next installment. I'm looking forward to reading it, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one.

Night Candy by Max Tomlinson (Oceanview Publishing, July 2023); 385 pp.