this was a well written mystery, particularly considering it was a first novel. Characters were somewhat developed, plot had some twists and turns. I must say , though, that I didnt particularly enjoy it. It was noir, which I usually like, but I found it difficult to like the protagonist. spoilers follow-
His dad kills his mom, he hushes it up- ok
he watches the girl get raped, he's a child, what do I expect him to do
he cheats on his wife- well -its ok- she was cheating far worse
he gets a dog , even though he knows that his last dog was forced to live entirely in the backyard by his trampy wife
his friend the private detective brings a couple of women along to their meeting, seemingly so they can sleep with them, even though he knows the guy is married, again, he knows him so seemingly something he was open to in the past?
he marries his wife rather than the woman he loves, but keeps the other woman hanging on and drops by for emotional support and sex when he wants it
the one person who is really nice to him, the doctor, he borrows his car so he can leave the area, therefore opening up the doctor to a charge of abetting
Supposedly he loves his sister, I guess that's something ( )

The protagonist does so many stupid things that it's hard to pull fopr him in this mystery about an attorney trying to solve his father's murder. ( )

Having read--and thoroughly loved--[b:Redemption Road|26883206|Redemption Road|John Hart|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452743616s/26883206.jpg|45785424], I decided I had to go back and read everything else he'd written.

This is the first one and, though it's not quite as amazing as his last book, the signs of the writer he'll become are all here. Well-defined, tortured characters, a complex, yet engaging plot, nasty people, and wonderful language.

I enjoyed the hell out of this one. ( )

In this, John Hart's first book, the protagonist's father is found murdered and Work Pickens believes his troubled sister may have done the deed. Meanwhile, Pickens is juggling a collapsing law business, an unhappy marriage, and deep feelings for another woman. Almost as many twists as a Harlan Coben book, with the killer not revealed until the end. His newer books are better: Hart spent too much time setting up the suspense here. ( )

I liked it, the author successfully kept me guessing throwing a few good candidates for the murderer. The ending was a major let down - as if the author realised he already had enough pages and just called it a day. Not really a deus ex machina, it just ends and neatly resolves all the subplots.
It's actually baffling. The chapter ends, the villain wins, fade to black. Next page it's all over but actually it turns out they all lived happily ever after. The ending is so upbeat that I wonder if it was different at some point, more in line with the rest of the book. I'm just going to go with my interpretation of the ending being the last seconds of the brain activity of the dying protagonist as it makes more sense. ( )