Tapply, William G. – OUT COLD

[LJ Roberts]

OUT COLD (Unlicensed Investigator-New England-Cont) – G+ Tapply, William G. – 22^nd in series

St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2007- US Hardcover – ISBN: 0312337469

Attorney Brady Coyne’s virtual spouse, Evie, is out of town so Brady and dog, Henry, are on their own. It’s a snowy day when Henry brings Brady’s attention to a person buried under the snow in their backyard. The young woman, discovered to have miscarried, dies and no one can identify her. Brady feels responsible and is determined to find out who she is and what happened. Others die and someone wants Brady to be one of the dead.

There are a lot of things I liked about this book and this series. The characters are great; from Brady to his more-than-just-a secretary July, to Evie, and on to Henry. The relationship with Evie is part of the character and the story but doesn’t take away from the mystery; in fact, it is integral to the story. The dialogue is natural and I love the setting, although I kept wondering who Brady got from Boylston to Newbury without going on a cross street but that’s being really picky. Tapply uses the setting well. I love that, although the protagonist is a lawyer, the book is not a legal thriller. There is good suspense, but motive that had me shaking my head and an ending that was so abrupt as to be startling. I criticize authors for not having tight stories, but I also don’t want to feel as though the author was running out of pages so he just decided to end it now. So, while I enjoyed the book overall, I don’t feel this is one of Tapply’s best books.