Death at Fort Devens

Set in 1985, Colt’s strong third mystery featuring Boston cop-turned-PI Andy Roark (after 2020’s Back Bay Blues) takes Roark to Fort Devens, a Massachusetts Army base, at the request of David Billings, his former lieutenant in Vietnam, who saved Roark’s life during a North Vietnamese ambush. Billings, who’s on track to be promoted to colonel, is worried about his 17-year-old daughter, Judy. She’s not been home for several days and has been dating one of the enlisted men under his command. Roark is eager to repay his debt to Billings by looking for her, starting with leads connected to her love life. What he learns makes him worried that Judy’s fallen in with a violent drug-dealing thug, information that takes him to Boston’s seedy and dangerous Combat Zone district in search of her. Roark’s anger issues and his untreated trauma from his wartime experiences complicate the investigation. Colt doesn’t pull any punches and plays fair with the reader before the satisfying reveal. Fans of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels interested in a grittier private investigator will be eager to see more of Roark. Agent: Cynthia Manson, Cynthia Manson Literary. (June)