Every Man a King: A King Oliver Novel

The tendency of PI Joe King Oliver, a former New York City cop, to take on two cases at once lands him in hot water in Edgar winner Mosley’s entertaining sequel to 2018’s Down the River unto the Sea. When his grandmother’s billionaire boyfriend asks him to look into the arrest and incarceration of an alt-right movement leader and race baiter, Joe doubts the validity of the charges, but is reluctant to become involved with a notorious bigot. Meanwhile, the husband of his ex-wife, Monica, has been arrested for selling heating oil as diesel fuel through connections to the Russian mob. Despite Monica’s unpleasant combativeness, Joe agrees to investigate for the sake of his high school valedictorian daughter, Aja. Mosley’s characteristic writing style is on full display, including his love of unusual similes (“The window gazed upon New Jersey but it was a misty day, making the Garden State look like a half-formed idea”). Joe continues to fascinate as a protagonist, and the secondary characters enrich the story whether they figure into the main action or not. While it may not quite measure up to his outstanding series opener, this is a worthy successor. Agent: Gloria Loomis, Watkins Loomis. (Feb.)