Freedom Drop

New York City bar owner Len Buonfiglio, the hero of Silverman’s impressive debut, has relocated to the Caribbean island of St. Pierre, where his reputation for helping those in trouble leads to his investigating a suspicious death. Deanna Gould, a travel writer, died from what was classified as an accidental fall off Freedom Drop, a historical site where some of the indigenous island inhabitants chose to leap to their deaths rather than be enslaved by Spanish colonizers. Months after the fatality, the case is reopened, and Rawle Johns, a tour guide, has been charged with Gould’s murder. Johns’s mother beseeches Buonfiglio to exonerate her son, and he agrees to examine the case. The circumstantial evidence against Johns includes DNA found on the dead woman. Buonfiglio learns that Gould was actually an investigative journalist for a news website, and the case gets more complex when Craig Frost, Gould’s colleague who revealed her real job to Buonfiglio, dies unexpectedly soon after their conversation. Silverman capably captures the feel of his setting en route to a satisfying conclusion. A sequel is warranted. (May)