Murder mars Milan Jacovich's 40th high school reunion in Roberts's routine 14th mystery to feature the Cleveland PI (after 2002's The Irish Sports Pages
). When Dr. Phil Kohn, “the class snotnose,” is found shot to death in the parking garage of the hotel hosting the event after arguing with another classmate, playwright Tommy Wiggins, Wiggins naturally becomes the prime suspect. Wiggins's defense attorneys hire Milan to find either the real killer or uncover enough reasonable doubt to avoid their client's indictment. The plot follows a straight path, devoid of any surprises, as the detective interviews the many classmates who had one reason or another to murder Kohn. Some unfortunate similes (“our friendship ended like a cracked ping-pong ball falling off the edge of a table”) shouldn't discourage new readers from catching up on earlier entries in this solid series, recently reissued by Gray & Company. (July)
