Fangs Out: A Cordell Logan Mystery

In Freed’s crackling second mystery featuring Rancho Bonita, Calif., flight instructor Cordell Logan (after 2012’s Flat Spin), Logan helps guide a small plane pilot who is having instrument trouble to safety only to discover that he’s rescued Hub Walker, a Medal of Honor winner, and Walker’s wife, Crissy, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year. Walker ends up hiring Logan, who has intelligence experience, to investigate Dorian Munz, who was executed for killing Walker’s daughter, Ruth. Walker believes—and wants Logan to prove—that Munz lied when he made a claim, shortly before his execution, that implicated Greg Castle, Ruth’s defense contractor employer and a friend of Walker’s, in the crime. All Logan has to do to earn $10,000 is give Walker info that discredits Munz’s claim. Logan begins questioning those involved with the case, uncovering some odd facts and another victim. The appealing Logan, a wise-cracking, marriage-challenged loner trying to practice Buddhist tenets, proves his mettle as both pilot and investigator. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. (Apr.)