Beyond Redress: A Harry Brock Mystery

In Roby’s satisfying ninth mystery featuring Harry Brock (after 2012’s Birds of Winter), the PI and Florida game warden once again tries to figure out family, females, and fatalities. Brock feels comfortable with his life looking after Bartram’s Hammock, the small island in southwest Florida where he lives, and the Stickpen Preserve of which it’s a part. Women, on the other hand, are a mystery to him. His ex-wife, Jennifer, is dying of cancer, and his grown daughter, Sarah, wants him to come to Jennifer’s funeral but not to visit her before she dies. Gwyneth Benbow wants him to investigate activist Henrico Perez’s murder, but sends plenty of seductive signals as well. And Holly Pike, friend and horse farm owner, has plans for him as well. Things heat up quickly for Brock, who’s likable and competent as an investigator, if not with women, and Roby makes fine use of the beautiful but dangerous Florida setting. (Nov.)