Outwitting Trolls

August 2, 2010
Family secrets and emotional hangups dominate the comfortably satisfying 25th and final Brady Coyne novel from Tapply (1940–2009). When Sharon Nichols finds her veterinarian ex-husband, Ken, stabbed to death in a suburban Boston hotel room, she phones Brady, a former neighbor of the couple, who rushes to the scene. As Sharon's lawyer, Brady tries to redirect police suspicion away from his client by exploring the victim's entanglement in selling date-rape drugs while juggling bad debts. To put it mildly, Brady discovers that Ken and Sharon had a less than idyllic personal life. While trying to help the emotionally fragile Sharon hold herself together, Brady must also sort out his prickly relationship with his son and cope with the moods of his own current lover. Convincing characters and a pleasant New England setting enhance a genuine play-fair mystery, despite several false leads.

October 1, 2010

Another death knell for one of Boston attorney Brady Coyne's (Hell Bent, 2008, etc.) old friends.

It's been ten years since Brady last saw Ken Nichols, his neighbor in Wellesley before they both got divorced. Now that Ken's in Natick for a veterinarians' convention, he's asked if they can reconnect. It's a short reunion, though, because the night after they have some drinks and catch up on old times, Ken's stabbed to death in his hotel room, his body discovered by his alluring ex-wife Sharon, with whom he'd also evidently wanted to reconnect, though in a more comprehensive way. Sharon's not exactly the ideal client. She doesn't call the police before she calls Brady, doesn't call the police after she calls Brady, and tells an improbable story about letting herself into an unlocked hotel room whose door couldn't possibly have been ajar. So naturally Det. Roger Horowitz and Det. Marcia Benetti like her for the murder. Looking further afield, Brady finds only a pair of wraithlike suspects—a fleeing figure in a hooded sweatshirt, the mysterious "Clem" Ken spoke to at the convention—and Ken's relatives, his ailing father Charles and his daughter Ellen and son Wayne, both in degree programs. Or rather he doesn't find Wayne, provoking Brady, who's having issues with his own son Billy, to something like actual engagement.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from October 15, 2010

Tapply, a prolific writer of over 40 works of fiction and nonfiction, built his reputation on his Brady Coyne mystery series. Coyne, a Boston lawyer keen on fly-fishing and the Red Sox, with an ex-wife, disaffected grown children, a trusty dog, and a string of girlfriends, now makes his final appearance. (Beginning with Death at Charity's Point, Tapply wrote over two dozen titles in this winning series before his death in 2009.) Ken Nichols, an old acquaintance in town for a convention, meets Brady for drinks and to talk over old times. Brady had provided legal services for Ken's veterinary practice, but he hadn't seen him in ten years. Their small talk is interrupted when Ken speaks with a mysterious man named Clem. Brady realizes too late that Ken's conversation might have been significant when he gets a frantic call later from Ken's ex-wife Sharon. She found Ken stabbed to death in his hotel room. Along with a crusty but dedicated homicide detective, Brady investigates false leads and shady suspects to arrive at a satisfying conclusion that hinges on the presence of a cat. VERDICT Loyal readers will find all the familiar elements Tapply has brought to the series. Essential and highly recommended.--Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2010
The late Tapply completed one last Brady Coyne novel before he died in 2009, and its a fitting finale to a fine series. As happens regularly, Boston lawyer Coyne is torn away from the comfortable routine of his easygoing practice by a friend in trouble. This time its the wife of a former neighbor, who calls Brady from a suburban hotel, where she is standing beside the body of her ex-husband, whom Brady had met the previous night for a drink. The police are interested in the wife, but Brady is convinced the murder has something to do with the couples disaffected children. The plot unwinds smoothly, but as always, what holds readers is Brady himselfthe quintessential regular guy as sleuth, a man who likes his pleasures (fishing, food, the Red Sox, and the occasional beer) but whose sensitivity to human relationships hovers just below the surface of his amiable exterior. He will be sorely missed by fans of realistic crime fiction. Saying farewell to Brady Coyne is like losing a good friend.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)