The Islamorada Murders — A Joey Mancuso, Father O’Brian Crime Mystery, Book 10

Description

Joey Mancuso and his wife, former FBI Special Agent, Marcy, were in Islamorada, Florida Keys, with the expectation of sunning, swimming, drinking a few locally brewed craft beers, enjoying freshly caught mahi-mahi and grouper, and simply relaxing from hectic New York City.

Former NYPD Homicide Detective, Mancuso, and now private investigator was not interested in getting involved in what seemed like an outlandish story. But how the timid, scared man, told the story, made Joey think twice about getting involved.

What followed was a series of murders — one body washing ashore the Islamorada Sandbar rattling sunbathers, another body with a bit off leg, picked up by a fishing charter in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, Joey’s mystery man was wanted for two homicides, smuggling a cache of fentanyl, and stealing from the dead men hundreds of thousands of dollars. To make it worse, Joey and Marcy were facing charges for harboring a wanted murderer.

So who was this mystery man? In his tenth entry in the Joey Mancuso, Father O’Brian Crime Mystery series, author Owen Parr doesn’t disappoint his readers. In his typical —what you think it is, isn’t, Parr takes the readers into a plot full of twists, turns and unexpected directions. Was Joey’s mystery man in fact a murderer? Was he a drug smuggler? Why is he wanted by the Chinese government? Also, why is the Department of Defense looking for him?

Without his New York brain trust and team, Joey solicits the help of friend, mystery author, and Miami Beach Police consultant, Jack Ryder. Plus, he calls colorful Miami Police Vice Squad’s undercover detectives, Jote and Tico, whom Joey describes as a cross between Cheech and Chong and The Pirates of the Caribbean. Together they embark in search of the truth, but that is quickly compounded by the disappearance of the mystery man. Now the team pivots into a search and rescue. But who has our mystery man? A Mexican cartel? The Chinese? The DOD? And why?

Fans of Arthur Conan Doyle’s -Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christies’ -Hercule Poirot, Michael Connelly’s -Harry Bosch, and James Patterson many mysteries will devour this well thought out and plotted crime mystery. Parr’s — The Islamorada Murders is sure to quickly become a best seller, as many of his award-winning novels in the series have.

“The Islamorada Murders: A Joey Mancuso, Father O’Brian Crime Mystery Book 10 by Owen Parr is the latest installment in this popular series. After their last case, former NYPD Homicide detective Joey Mancuso and his wife, former FBI agent Marcy, are in Islamadora, in the Florida Keys for a well-earned holiday. They are partners with Father Dominic O’Brian at the Mancuso and O’Brian Investigative Services, a pub and cigar bar In New York. While the couple is enjoying the local craft brews and the sunset on a private beach, a man wearing dark sunglasses approaches them with a most unusual request: to solve his murder. What follows is a series of suspenseful events as Joey becomes involved in the mystery man’s investigation, who is now a suspect in two homicides, smuggling, and stealing. As the bodies pile up, the mystery also deepens.

Owen Parr’s The Islamorada Murders is a fast-paced mystery novel. One of this book’s many pleasures is the ominous build-up of tension on every page. Fast-paced and rich in details, readers may feel the danger as private investigator Joey Mancuso chases the truth and is pursued by gunboats and fighter planes. The narrative is held together by the story’s perfectly formed characters, especially for those who have been following this mystery series. There are many twists and turns in the plot but it progresses straightforwardly. Reading The Islamadora Murders will keep you on the edge of your seat!”

Reviewed by Maria Victoria Beltran for Readers’ Favorite