cover image Rough Justice

Rough Justice

Matt Hilton. Severn, $28.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-7278-8978-2

The crash of a small plane in the Great North Woods, which kills the pilot and copilot, propels Hilton’s fast-paced sixth thriller featuring Portland, Maine, PIs Tess Grey, a former police officer, and her partner, ex-con Nicolas “Po” Villere (after 2019’s False Move). An insurance company hires Tess and Po to investigate rumors that a woman passenger on the flight survived. The duo set off for Brayton Lake to meet Jonathan Laird, a field biologist who witnessed the crash. Tess and Po also enlist the aid of flamboyant Pinky Leclerc, a career criminal Po met in prison who is now trying to go straight. While on the trail of the survivor, the group crosses paths with a ruthless paramilitary unit also looking for the woman. Meanwhile, two hired killers are pursuing Pinky. Point of view shifts among the protagonists, the survivor, the mercenaries, and a mysterious DEA agent ratchet up the suspense, and shifting alliances and motives keep the reader alert. Hilton once again shows he can tell a gripping crime story. Agent: Luigi Bonomi, LBA Literary (U.K.). (Apr.)