A Long Way Down

April 22, 2019
At the start of Silvis’s overwrought third Ryan DeMarco mystery (after 2018’s Walking the Bones), the former Pennsylvania state policeman turned PI is leaving the hospital where his estranged wife, Laraine, is being treated after a suicide attempt when he runs into an old high school buddy, Ben Brinker, now the Mahoning County sheriff. It turns out Ben could use Ryan’s help in solving a triple homicide connected to a 30-year-old cold case in their hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. Ryan is reluctant to return to his hometown, unlike his girlfriend and PI partner, Jayme Matson, who’s eager to go there. In Youngstown, Ben’s deputies resent what they consider Ryan and Jayme’s interference, and Ryan’s negative feelings about the place and his grief over his young son’s recent death hinder the investigation. Series fans will gain a greater understanding of the emotionally closed off Ryan, but repetitive action and uninspired dialogue stymie the plot. Hopefully, Silvis will return to form in book four. Agent: Sandy Lu, L. Perkins Agency.