The Last Breath

August 27, 2018
Set in Sarasota, Fla., Lopez’s so-so sequel to 2017’s The Last Girl finds self-pitying unemployed reporter Dexter Vega in desperate need of a job. At the suggestion of a newspaper editor acquaintance, Dexter gets in touch with Bob Fleming, a retired hedge fund manager who’s unhappy with the police investigation of the death of his 27-year-old son, Liam. A fit athlete, Liam supposedly drowned while kayaking in the calm Intracoastal Waterway, and Bob wants someone to find out what really happened. Besides learning that Liam lived like a beach bum, but was using his father’s money to buy real estate that he never sold, Dexter uncovers holes in the report of the police detective involved in the case. The odd behavior of Bob’s trophy wife, Brandy, raises his suspicions, but often he follows the wrong scent. More through luck than skill, Dexter bumbles his way toward unraveling the mystery of Liam’s death. Smooth prose compensates only in part for a familiar plot.

September 1, 2018

Out-of-work reporter Dexter Vega spends his time bemoaning his fate while drinking in bars in Siesta Key, FL. An editor sends him to Bob Fleming, a wealthy retiree who hires him to look into the death of his son, Liam. The police closed the case, calling it an accidental drowning, but Fleming can't believe that Liam, a competitive swimmer, drowned in the shallow area of the Intercoastal. When he's attacked at Liam's house, Vega suspects something may be wrong. The investigating police officer won't return his calls; the police report is missing details. The beach bums and hippies Liam ran with know that he invested in property, but no one has details. When Dexter tries to track down Liam's elusive business partner, more people are attacked. Liam's death seems to be wrapped up in secrets, beachfront property, and local politics. VERDICT This suspenseful, issue-oriented follow-up to The Last Girl vividly showcases a Florida community suffering from a war between developers and those who treasure the beach lifestyle. Readers of John and Blaize Clement's "Dixie Hemingway" mysteries will enjoy this.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2018
No one paid writers anymore, moans Dexter Vega, who should know. He's been downsized from his reporter's job at a Sarasota newspaper; his attempts at freelancing are in the ditch; and, if things get any worse, he'll have to sell off his record collection. Then, in fine noir tradition, he's hooked up with a wealthy old man mourning the death of his son and convinced that the police report?giving the cause as accidental drowning ?is wrong. Dex is off on a quest through the beach-and-booze world of Siesta Key on the west coast of Florida. It's an Eden threatened, like so many places, by overdevelopment, and that's the key to the young man's death. He was, we learn, a developer who hated development. Why was he killed? Readers may find it takes too many pages to find out, but they won't mind all that much, as they will be completely taken up by the dark view of Siesta behind the veil of sun, where creatures that frolicked in the sand found themselves in dark holes of their own making. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)