Excellent Series
5 out of 5 stars Performance 5 out of 5 stars Story 5 out of 5 stars Profile Image for Brian Brian 03-08-21 Excellent Series I knew going into this that I was likely going to enjoy it. I’ve really come to love the way that Parr writes his books – and this series, while a step away from his main characters, wasn’t really a step away from the things that make his books great. They each have a concise plot and a main character who isn’t your normal detective, but still is able to piece together the plot of the crime(s) given enough time and evidence. Jack Ryder, an author, and now part-time helper for the police is thrown into three different cases here. I won’t dive too deep into each one because, even though they were three different stories – they all built on what the last one had, allowing both Ryder but also the stories to grow and mature in front of my eyes. The first story was the most intriguing, I loved the idea of someone committing a murder that was so spot on to a book that an author wrote that the author is now being questioned about it. It’s what caused Jack and Logan to start working together. This first story builds not only who Jack Ryder is, but how he approaches a case and how he was able to help out the police in solving a crime that he only committed in his story. The second story had the old-school Agatha Christie feel to it and it’s mentioned numerous times throughout. Each time you think you know who the killer is the story changes a bit. I know that Parr is able to throw in more and more as the story progresses, but it really feels like your helping Ryder solve the crimes as he’s solving them. You’re right there with him as he walks Logan through what he’s thinking and why he comes to the conclusions that he does. The third story, similar to the second, has that Agatha Christie feel to it, but was throw into a modern day hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic. This added some nice realistic touches (quarantine, no one could leave, etc), while not making any stances for or against it. The plot line and murder in this one was crazy and the final scenes where the admission of the crimes happens was crazy. Such a great payoff. Oh, and I forgot to mention that all of this was happening while a hurricane was bearing down on them. Overall, I really enjoyed this series – I love Parr’s books and I loved the “new” character. His Beagle is also a fun addition along with the back and forth that he has with Logan. I hope that there are more stories like these and while I love the full-length books, I loved the bite-sized pieces that these novellas were too. Add in the great narration by Randy McCarten and you have one of the best mystery novellas (or series of them) that I’ve read in 2021.