William Byrd (BB) is a Jacksonville, FL, businessman who owns four gas stations inherited from his father. He and his wife are estranged but live together in the same house, along with their teenage son, who hates everyone and spends his time in his room drawing pornographic graphic novels. BB gets a call one morning from an old friend, Det. Daniel Turner, who asks him to identify a body found wrapped in cellophane on the rundown Blue Avenue. BB recognizes the victim as an African American girl named Belinda Mabry, with whom he was in love when he was 17. As the investigation reveals that Belinda was the victim of a serial killer, BB brings in his mysterious buddy Charles to help him find the murderer. Charles fixes what needs fixing, no matter what is involved.
VERDICT The Shamus Award-winning author of the Chicago-set "Joseph Kozmarksi" series (A Bad Night's Sleep) introduces an intriguing antihero in this excellent noir that will attract readers who appreciate the anguished protagonists of Steve Hamilton and Loren D. Estleman.
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