New Jersey Noir: Cape May

Paterson, N.J., PI Jack Colt has an old and a new murder to solve in Baer’s outstanding sequel to 2018’s New Jersey Noir. Richard O’Brien, a judge at the Cape May County Courthouse, tells Jack that the investigator he recently hired to reexamine the murder 10 years earlier of his daughter Nikki, then 17, was murdered the day before. Coincidentally, the investigator’s name was Edward Colt. “Never heard of him,” says Jack, though he’s definitely curious about the other Colt and what led to his death. Oddly, two days earlier, Edward visited Richard and said he’d just drawn up a will leaving all his money to the judge. Jack, who’s familiar with the Nikki O’Brien case, wonders what the connection might be between it and Edward’s murder. That Nikki had an identical twin adds another layer of intrigue. With a head for crime and his own set of scruples, Jack moves effortlessly through the seamy underbelly of the state he loves. Filled with local Jersey color, sardonic humor, and plenty of Colt lore (about both the gun Colt carries and the company that makes it), this is a can’t-put-it-down thrill ride. (Jan.)