THE MANHATTAN RED RIBBON KILLER —A Joey Mancuso, O’Brian Crime Mystery – Book 3

Description

MANHATTAN PLAGUED BY TERROR: Red Ribbon Killer Rampages!

The third outing in the gripping Mancuso-O’Brian murder mystery series, this case is particularly fascinating, Watson—because it’s about to get personal! when meticulous NYPD cop-turned-private eye Joey Mancuso is called in to help the Midtown South precinct solve a series of brutal murders targeting young professional women.

Case #1 at first seems to be an eve of kinky sex gone wrong. But when second and third bodies turn up—this time with the sign of the cross carved into their breasts—New York’s finest think they have a serial killer on their hands. There couldn’t be a better time to call in wry private investigator Joey Mancuso and his brother, Father Dominic O’Brian.

Joey finds himself grasping at straws—and concocting a psychological profile of his killer, thanks to some tips from his FBI agent sometime-girlfriend. Why the gruesome carving of the crucifix? And why are all the murders so close to NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct? The more Joey digs, the more he realizes his victims aren’t simply the victims of patterned sex crimes, but of a narcissistic psychopath gunning for someone—someone with ties to the precinct, perhaps.

With a little help from his former partner the daring and elegant Detective Lucy (Lucifer) Roberts, as well as always-wise and gentle guidance from Father O’Brian, Joey and his ragtag team of investigators race the clock from their new digs behind Captain O’Brian’s Irish Pub to catch their killer before he strikes again—because it’s only a matter of time before he hits too close to home.

Author Owen Parr has modeled his heroes after Holmes and Watson, and all the Doylesque markings of a head-scratching, heart-racing puzzler lie in these pages. But not only fans of Holmes, but also of the gritty police procedurals by Raymond Chandler, Joseph Wambaugh, Lawrence Block, and Rex Stout will gobble up the series. As will fans of no-nonsense legal procedural protagonists like Dennis Carstens’ Marc Kadella and Erle Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason.

5.0 out of 5 stars 
A well written novel!
Reviewed in the United States Verified Purchase -Amazon

“A good mystery story and enjoy all the characters. Looking forward to his next novel! I recommend his books because it about the story not sex or sensationalism. It won’t disappoint!”

Reviewed By Darryl Greer for Readers’ Favorite:

“The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer by Owen Parr is the third book in a crime mystery series featuring unlikely brothers, Italian-American Joey Mancuso and Irish-American Father Dominic O’Brian (don’t worry — the relationship is explained in the story). This time, New York City is being terrorised by a serial killer preying on young, professional women who seem to have a lot more in common than first meets the eye. As the bodies pile up and NYPD’s Midtown South Precinct cops are no closer to finding the killer, they enlist the services of a private investigative team, Mancuso & O’Brian Investigations. Joey Mancuso, a former member of the precinct’s homicide squad, has both friends and enemies there, but he is not one to be intimidated by those who resent an outside consultant being recruited into their investigation. With the aid of his brother and partner, Fr. Dom, Joey puts his Sherlock Holmes’ style investigative skills to good use and sets out on a dangerous path to find the perpetrator of these heinous crimes. His hunt for the killer almost costs him his life, but he’s not about to give up and eventually he discovers the shocking truth.

At first, like an Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie novel, a slow burner, the pace of Owen Parr’s The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer picks up along the way. Then it becomes a real page turner, a true crime thriller. The device of using a character who isn’t actually a homicide squad detective and casting him alongside a Catholic priest is unique, for me at least, and adds a dash of spice to the story’s flavour. The dialogue is script-like and believable, the scenes easy to visualise. In fact, at times the scenes are so graphic they are too easy to visualise — this book is not for the faint-hearted. Just as I was hyperventilating and the narrative edged towards what I thought was its dénouement, it took an unexpected and dramatic ninety-degree turn and went off in another direction. One surprise followed another. I was almost glad to reach the end so I could catch my breath. The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer is indeed a killer of a story.”

You can learn more about Owen Parr and “The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer” at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-manhattan-red-ribbon-killer where you can read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.