Review: Sinister Justice by Steve Pickens

Title: Sinister Justice

Series: A Jake Finnegan Mystery: Book Two

Author: Steve Pickens

Length: 313 Pages

Category: Mystery/Suspense

At a Glance: Steve Pickens brings his setting to life with vivid and colorful descriptions. His writing is clear and the pace is just right, making the storyline easy to follow and yet the mystery complex.

Reviewed By: Maryann

Blurb: Arrow Bay: a picturesque seaside city of parks, mountain trails, incredible views…and corpses. An unidentified vigilante, unhappy with plans to alter the idyllic character of Jake Finnigan’s hometown, goes to extreme ends—in disturbingly creative and fatal ways—to express their displeasure. The citizens of the village are growing increasingly concerned and agitated, wondering who will be next and if the killer walks among them. Jake and his partner Sam O’Conner, who insist that they do not poke their noses into murder investigations, suddenly land in the middle of an increasingly complex and bizarre case, and as the body count grows, find themselves falling under suspicion.

Review: Arrow Bay, Washington, is a town that was founded by Italians, and thus, most of the population is of Italian decent. The townspeople have tried to keep Wilde Park and the picturesque town beautiful and vibrant with continuing restoration of the natural environment. But, certain town council members have tried to pull a fast one on the town by making a deal to bring in a SuperLoMart, to be built on land that is held in a public trust. With a variety of townspeople and their personal opinions, their racist outbursts and accusations of corruption brought against the council, the meeting turns into a big brouhaha.

Before the meeting comes to a close, Police Chief Sanderson, under strict orders, has an important announcement: Misty Snipes has served her twenty-five-year sentence and has been released. This just adds to the tension, and the townspeople want to know what she was convicted of—and why that information can’t be revealed.

Jake Finnigan and his husband, Sam O’Conner, live in Arrow Bay with their faithful companions, Barnaby, Sophia, and Dorothy. Sam is in high demand as a top maritime designer, and Jake is a former ferry operator turned budding author. One interesting aspect about Jake is his photographic memory, another is that he also struggles with the death of his best friend, Chris Aponte.

Jake has been forewarned by Sam as well as Detective Adam Haggerty not to get involved when dead bodies begin turning up and a gory twist to the Grimm’s Fairy Tales becomes a clue, but Jake is right in the mix of things.

What I learned about author Steven Pickens is that he truly has a fondness for Washington State and its beautiful environment. He brings the setting to life with his vivid and colorful descriptions. He also made Jake and Sam an interesting couple. They have a love for classic movies, music and murder mysteries, and their banter is sweet and humorous. Their families are complete opposites, and there’s all sorts of drama that they find themselves confronted with. There is an abundance of family as well as friends that help to make this storyline intriguing, and I’m hoping for more to come in this series.

Since I can never resist reading the first book in a series, I read Final Departure, which introduces Jake, his friend Alex, and, eventually, Sam, before starting this one. It turned out to be one suspenseful murder mystery, and I enjoyed reading that and Sinister Justice back-to-back. Both of the novels are lengthy, but I was not disappointed. The writing is clear and the pace is just right, making the storylines easy to follow and yet the mysteries complex. This was my first time reading this author, but it won’t be the last.

You can buy Sinister Justice here:
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