Cheap Heat: A Jack Dixon Novel

In Ford’s slow-moving sequel to 2019’s Body Broker, Delaware PI Jack Dixon’s history as a star college wrestler lands him a job as a bodyguard to a former teammate turned professional wrestler performing under the Civil War moniker “U.S. Grant.” Grant has received anonymous threatening letters, including one signed “Knights of the South” warning him to stay out of Virginia. Dixon immerses himself in the world of a minor league wrestling tour, which Ford wryly describes through the filter of his sensitive tough-guy hero. Dixon’s efforts to identify specific individuals who pose a threat to Grant are weighed down by Dixon’s finicky, introspective nature and details of the case he handled in Body Broker, which saw him grapple with a violent biker gang whose surviving members still seek revenge. Dixon is a sleuth in development, with a character that’s a little too prickly to be charming. The plot relies so heavily on the previous book that the startlingly violent takedown of the true villains is a bait and switch that leaves readers a little bewildered. Hopefully, Ford will give Dixon more room to grow in his next outing. (May)