And the Devil Walks Away

 

 

And the Devil Walks Away

by Kevin R. Doyle

GENRE: Mystery

Helen Lipscomb seemingly has nowhere to go but down. Cashiered from the force, ostracized by most of her former acquaintances, and with no real connections left to the community, she's been getting by as a sort of unofficial investigator, doing piecework for various lawyers and bail bondsmen. Her former life as a homicide detective seems far behind her until a notorious serial killer, locked away and facing the death penalty, offers her the challenge of a lifetime. Not to prove his innocence, but to prove him guilty of even more murders than the authorities suspect, murders for which another convicted man, several states away, is taking credit.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

“Huh?” The beginnings of a headache developed as she tried to follow the lawyer’s logic.

“Every day that we’d spend in motions, hearings, or actual trial, were we to get so lucky, would be one extra day that Mr. Benson’s part of the news. Do you have any idea what the publicity of the last few years has done to his various companies’ stock valuations? Not to mention their overall bottom line?”

“I get it,” Helen said, leaning back in the chair. “Don’t want the entire thing to go down the rabbit hole, right?”

“Exactly.”

“You’re not going to try to get him out at some point, are you?” she asked.

“I would if I could,” Conroy said, “and please don’t look so shocked. You know how the game’s played as well as anyone. Probably better than most. It’s my job to get my client the best deal I can. Even so,” he shook his head, “some sort of freedom, any certain number of years, would be too much even for me to pull off. No, Leo Benson, minus all his billions of dollars, is going to spend the rest of his life, however long that may be, in either this prison or one very similar.”

“So what you’re after is getting rid of the death penalty,” Helen said. 

Conroy nodded. “Both here and, if it ever gets to that, in Colorado. And that’s where you come in.”

My Thoughts:

And the Devil Walks away is the third in “The Group” series. While I have not read any of the previous books in the series, I was confident that I could easily pick up on the parts that were left out.  I’m really glad that I didn’t let a little thing such as starting part way through a series stop me from reading this book.  The characters are well-developed and the story line had me hooked from the start.  While I am more of a cozy mystery lover, this mystery did not disappoint. I was invested in the story through to the end of the book. The story moves quickly and in case anyone isd wondering - there is not any real gore and ghastly details to deal with. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

My rating: 5 out of 5

About the Author:

A retired high-school teacher and former college instructor, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written four crime thrillers including The Group and The Anchor, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel.  The fourth Sam Quinton book, Clean Win, was released in March of 2023.

Web site: kevindoylefiction.com

Facebook: facebook.com/kevindoylefiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6473241.Kevin_R_Doyle

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509239375

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/and-the-devil-walks-away-kevin-r-doyle/1137341992

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/and-the-devil-walks-away-1

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