At the start of Shamus-finalist Arsenault's fine second novel to feature former investigative journalist Billy Povich (after 2006's Gravewriter
), Povich is writing obituaries for a Charlestown, R.I., newspaper. When ex-con Adam Rackers guns down Charlestown's leading judge, attorney Martin Smothers offers Povich a tougher job—finding out who hired Rackers to carry out the hit. Povich, a single dad with a son to take care of as well as an ailing father, learns a local gangster threatened the judge shortly before the murder. Meanwhile, Smothers discovers the judge had a secret life in New York City, complete with a mistress who considered herself his second wife. The author lightens the hard-nosed detecting with humor, even injecting it effectively into conversations between Povich and his father about end-of-life issues. The action builds to a genuinely surprising but logical solution. Fans of Harry Hunsicker's Dallas PI series (Still River
, etc.) will appreciate Povich. (Oct.)
