Rundown

Called in to investigate a hit-and-run, a pair of Toronto police detectives are concerned it may be part of something bigger.Detectives David Ellis and Mervin Pratt (The Boom Room, 2014) have a good working dynamic even though Ellis is still so young that he keeps getting asked for ID at crime scenes. When the two are asked to look into a hit-and-run that's left teacher Rebecca Smith dead, they suspect the incident is something more than an accident, especially since it resembles two other cases on their docket that also involve stolen cars and similar tire-track patterns. Determined to unearth the connection among the three crimes, Ellis travels north to the small town of Muskoka, a place apparently linked to each of the victims, while Pratt stays local, questioning the victims' connections in Toronto. While they try to uncover what happened in Muskoka, Ellis struggles to figure out why his wife, Jen, is acting so distant. Pratt encourages Ellis to achieve the work/life balance that's always eluded Pratt himself, even if it means taking on more work from his partner. Things heat up quite literally in Muskoka when Ellis is trapped in a hotel fire that broadly hints that the murderer doesn't want the truth discovered. Blechta wastes not a minute in laying out this compact, sharply focused tale, clearly meant to be read in a sitting. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.