Hacked: A Tucker Mystery

Wanting to do the right thing isn’t enough, as Aloysius Tucker discovers in Daniel’s outstanding fourth mystery featuring the Boston computer whiz (after 2016’s Child Not Found). When the Facebook account of Tucker’s 10-year-old cousin, Maria Rizzo, is flooded with vile insults and lesbian porn, her two adoptive moms turn to him for help. Tucker, who’s been standing in for the girl’s late father, comes to think that the older brother of one of Maria’s classmates, Gustav Olinsky, may have been involved in the hacking. But when he consults two FBI agents he knows and mentions Gustav’s name, the hitherto friendly agents suddenly refuse to cooperate. Later, somebody posts false claims about him on the internet, with his real name and address made public; protestors gather in the street outside his house in the South End. A hacker’s murder raises the stakes. Well-meaning and likable, Tucker is his own worst enemy as he struggles with uncontrollable rage and excessive alcohol consumption in this bloody but supremely readable outing. Agent: Eric Ruben, Ruben Agency. (June)