River of Secrets: A Wallace Hartman Mystery

The cardboard character of the lead—Baton Rouge, La., police detective Wallace Hartman—and a relatively uncomplicated mystery mar Johns’s sequel to 2017’s Dark River Rising. When Herbert Marioneaux, a white state senator whose past is filled with “controversial views” regarding racial segregation, is murdered, clues point to disgraced criminal lawyer and political activist Eddie Pitkin, who happens to be black. Hartman, who has a close friend related to Pitkin, investigates and soon becomes enmeshed in a media storm centered on the apparently wrongful arrest of yet another black man and gross police misconduct. Examining the underbelly of Louisiana culture, Hartman discovers more than a few closed-minded people with highly dangerous agendas. The action builds to an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion, and the emotionally muted writing style doesn’t help matters. Not many readers will feel like following Hartman’s further adventures. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Agency. (Aug.)