White's stunning second crime novel to feature ex-cop and ex-PI Jackson Donne fulfills the promise of his debut, When One Man Dies
(2007). Restaurateur Franklin Carter, Donne's obnoxious but rich brother-in-law, hires him to investigate Donne's mother's claims that his grandfather murdered someone. Since Donne's mother is suffering from dementia, the detective has his work cut out for him, even before someone bombs Carter's New York City restaurant and later abducts Carter. When Donne becomes a suspect after his elderly aunt and uncle are gunned down in their quiet New Jersey home, he must ally himself with a sympathetic cop to gain any traction in the case. Readers will readily forgive a major coincidence at the heart of the plot because the author does such a fine job of depicting the inner conflicts of his fallible but ultimately heroic protagonist. (June)
