Fourth Down and Out: An Andy Hayes Mystery

Reporter Welsh-Huggins’s workmanlike debut, the first in a series, introduces Andy Hayes, a Columbus, Ohio, PI, and—for reasons explained late in the story—perhaps the most reviled former football player in Ohio State history. On the behalf of client Ted Hamilton, Hayes manages to retrieve a laptop from high school student Pete Freeley with an embarrassing video, of which Hamilton is the unwilling star, but Hayes is beaten and robbed of it before he can wipe it clean. The missing laptop has information that affects not only Hamilton but also police detective Henry Fielding, O.S.U. booster Bobby Fletcher, English teacher Anne Cooper, FBI agent Cindy Morris, and Pete’s father, businessman Doug Freeley. Hayes proves an appealing, if not terribly effective, investigator. The author’s use of iconic Columbus landmarks and lots of Buckeye lore will appeal to O.S.U. fans. (May)