Title: Forever Haunt (The Jimmy McSwain Files: Book Five)
Author: Adam Carpenter
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 316 Pages
Category: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
At a Glance: Adam Carpenter never fails to make the Jimmy McSwain series emotional on all levels. Family, friends, relationships, different clients and cases always leave me wanting more from this outstanding series.
Reviewed By: Maryann
Blurb: Fifteen years ago, NYPD officer Joseph McSwain, was gunned down while trying to stop a robbery. His murder was never solved. Until now.
For his son, Hell’s Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain, his father’s death has defined him, defied him, and denied him his chance at happiness. But the shooting death of a young officer named Denson Luke has re-ignited the investigation into the mysterious Blue Death conspiracy. Jimmy still must earn a living, so he cannot ignore a family in distress.
New neighbors Carmen Ramirez and her young son, Sonny are clearly running from danger. Overnight, their case becomes one involving a missing father, a Chinese crime syndicate, and an abduction which threatens to overwhelm Jimmy’s mission of solving his father’s case. His relationship status with Frank Frisano on and off again, Jimmy tries to do double duty, jeopardizing his own safety.
It’s only when another murder occurs that Jimmy finally finds the path that has eluded him. His investigation finally leads him back home, where a devastating family secret overshadows all he’s learned, and the cost to the McSwain family may never be repaid. Jimmy realizes the blood on his hands will forever haunt him.
Review: PI Jimmy McSwain finds himself without any cases to solve—except for the one that consumes him, Forever Haunt. The case involves the murder of his father, Joseph McSwain, which Jimmy witnessed at the age of fourteen. It’s now rolling up on the fifteenth anniversary, and as clues get him closer to solving this mystery, there are still stumbling blocks along the way. What he learned from the criminal Mickey Dean, before his execution style murder, still plagues Jimmy, so he decides to investigate the deceased Joseph McSwain. Jimmy knows there’s one person that could possibly hold the answers he’s looking for—his mother, Maggie.
With Jimmy’s heartfelt belief that no child should be without a father, he gets sidetracked by a little boy’s kidnapping. The case takes him into dangerous territory belonging to Mr. Wu-Tin, of the Chinese mob, and Jimmy once again puts his life in danger.
Jimmy has family issues to deal with too. Meaghan, his younger sister, is expecting a baby soon, and Mallory is having boyfriend problems. He still has to finish the talk with his mother about his father and the haunting accusation against him involving a young girl. What Jimmy learns in the end is that no decision comes without a cost. Ralphie Henderson, a friend, mentor and father figure to Jimmy, also holds a secret that could help Jimmy in his quest to solve his father’s murder. What, if anything, does the Blue Death have to do with the NYPD and Lt. Lawrence Dean, Detective Roscoe Barone, Detective Tolliver, and Lt. Salvatore Frisano?
Frank Frisano and Jimmy are still seeing each other, but when another execution style murder of an officer occurs, they have a misunderstanding. With Jimmy being a PI, and Frank a cop and Captain of the 10th Precinct, their relationship has always been rocky, but they’ve been making progress at working out their miscommunications. Frank and Jimmy are keeping their relationship on the down-low, but Frank’s father still has his own agenda about his son and the relationship.
Adam Carpenter never fails to make the Jimmy McSwain series emotional on all levels. Family, friends, relationships, different clients and cases always leave me wanting more from this outstanding series. Mr. Carpenter also gives us a twisted plot with secrets revealed, suspense, danger, death, guilt, bigotry and suicide. He leaves me uncomfortable with and suspicious of the NYPD; I’m always wondering who Jimmy can really trust. Jimmy himself is so unique; he’s family driven, and he holds his head high and loves with his heart. He’s not a flashy PI, he never carries a gun, and he keeps New York alive by walking or riding the subway just about everywhere he goes.
I believe there may be one more installments in the Jimmy McSwain series, which I’m more than looking forward to. But I’m going to miss Ralphie, his relationship with Jimmy, and his never-ending question to Jimmy: “Still like boys?”
You can buy Forever Haunt here:
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