Review copy recieved via Library Thing Member Giveaway Received as a review copy via Library thing member giveaway. the fourth in the Scott Drayco series,so by now if you have read all the earlier books, you are up to speed with Drayco, Drayco Snr, Drayo's former work colleagues, his bedmates and the places he loves and hates. Drayco is a former concert pianist, former FBI agent, current crime specialist we go back to the East Coast, but most of the action happens in Washington DC.
Drayco's mother has been arrested under suspicion of murder. As Drayco thought his mother was dead,this is confusing news even for a 35 something man. And he has issues lots of old,deep issues - if she is his mother why did she leave and if she is not, why does she claim to be. Drayco is asked to prove she is innocent, how easy will that be when she creates the impression that she knows more than she is saying and that she may be protecting someone.
Lawson writes clean, clear crime mysteries, you MAY guess the solution before it is presented to you, I personally gave up guessing the killer(s?) after I read Murder on the Orient Express at the age of 9 - spoiler alert - they all did it, and Poirot would have too given half the chance.

Lawson packs a lot into the Drayco books, references to classical music which must also be the author's passion because the detail is beyond the amateur pianist, here we have scams, Gypsies and the vulnerability of the lonely.

Lawson is developing Drayco and his life and work well, if you have read the other three books - which you really should have only to be up to speed,you may very well have developed a fondness for this investigator and his colleagues.

As I continued to read, I found no 'fatal' editing errors, of the type that usually make me want to throw a book or in the case of a Kindle - the nearest cushion (there is always one on hand) across the room.

So why 3 stars? Way too many cultural references that meant that on occasion I had nothing to work with - OK, it is NOT important that I know exactly what a Manhattan Special Expresso Soda is, but when not connected to the Internet my Kindle couldn't tell me, nor, did Lawson spell out some of the other US centric terms sprinkled through the Drayco books, I don't care if there is a footnote with a link within the kindle book, or an explanation in the body of the text but for a non USA based reader it became frustrating, and I really HATE skipping over sections because I cannot see the obvious link. In this book, Lawson has ramped up the acronyms I was halfway through the book before I had Internet access to find out what the TSA meant and by that time I almost didn't care. ( )