Richard Forrest (1)Critiques

This is the second book in the Lyon and Bea Wentworth series and I wish I had read the first. Does Lyon have some training as a spy? If not, then he is intuitive to an unlikely degree. This is very light reading but fun. I find the title has nothing much to do with the plot.

I received a review copy of "The Wizard of Death" by Richard Forrest (Open Road) through NetGalley.com.

I remembered reading one of Forrest's books some years back, and all I could recall was that the protagonist wrote children's books and was a hot-air balloonist. Someone on the DorothyL list reminded me that the books were set in Connecticut and I discovered there were several in the series. This was the first, where protagonist Lyon Wentworth gets involved in a very cold case because his friend is the police chief in their small town. Numerous suspects, quasi-genealogical research, great danger for Lyon, all lead to a satisfying conclusion. The relationships between Lyon and his friend Rocco and also with Lyon's wife Bea, a state senator, are well-drawn and the setting in rural Connecticut is charming. I will certainly be reading the rest of the books.

Lyon Wentworth, children's author and hot-air balloonist, and his friend Rocco Herbert, police chief of Murphysville, CT, return in the second of a series. Lyon's wife, Bea, a State Senator, narrowly escapes death when a gubernatorial candidate she's introducing is shot. It soon becomes clear that Bea is also a target. But who is the shooter, and why is he shooting? A mysterious organization called Rainbow appears to be behind it all. Lyon and Rocco combine intuition, police work, and hot-air balloon reconnaissance to come to a surprising conclusion. Characters and setting will ring true for anyone who's lived in Connecticut. Highly recommended.