In the Silence of Decay

by Lisa Boyle

Overview

2024 IPPY Gold Medal Winner, Best Regional Fiction: West Mountain

2024 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Category Finalist Mystery/Crime

2024 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards Finalist: Crime Fiction

New Mexico, 1979: After a career in the military as a CID detective, all James Pinter wants to do is drive his rig and mind his own damn business. But when his daughter, Molly, finds a dead woman behind a gas station and a disabled boy at her side, he's forced to reckon with his former life. The state police record the death as an overdose-just another drug addict from the reservation-but James can't ignore the clues they're conveniently overlooking.

Reluctant to get involved but fearing for the boy's life, James shares his suspicions with the Navajo Nation. The victim's sister, desperate for answers, insists on James's help. But the more James investigates, the further he and Molly are dragged into a world of drugs and corruption, big money and explosive secrets.

When James's life is threatened, he knows he ought to leave town and take Molly with him. But he won't abandon the innocent. Not after what happened at My Lai.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781736607763
Publisher:	Lisa Boyle Writes, LLC
Publication date:	10/24/2023
Series:	Pinter P.I. , #1
Pages:	398
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.99(d)

About the Author

Born and raised in Finksburg, Maryland, Lisa Boyle received bachelor's degrees in journalism and international affairs from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Lisa has held many different jobs over the years from cheesemonger, to educator at the U.S.S. Constitution Museum. Lisa lives in South Carolina with her husband and daughter. Her debut historical fiction book, Signed, A Paddy, was the recipient of the 2022 Eric Hoffer First Horizon Book Award, the 2022 Eric Hoffer Historical Fiction Book Award, and the 2022 IPPY Best Regional Fiction, U.S. Northeast, Bronze Medal. In the Silence of Decay is Lisa's first crime fiction novel.

Editorial Reviews

"An enthralling crime novel." - Independent Book Review (STARRED review)

"Immensely satisfying." - The BookLife Prize

From the Publisher

2024-08-29
A Vietnam War veteran trying to leave his past behind finds himself being pulled into a murder investigation in Boyle’s mystery novel.

James Pinter was once a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division agent involved in investigating the My Lai Massacre. When James left the service, he became a truck driver, hoping to forget the horrors of war. His life takes a turn in 1979, when James becomes the sole caretaker of his estranged 14-year-old daughter, Molly, after her mother overdoses. An even more significant change occurs when Molly discovers the body of Linda Morris near a New Mexico gas station. The investigating state troopers chalk up Linda’s death as yet another Indigenous overdose case. James has doubts, but wants to purge his past as a cop (“this was not his case, he reminded himself again”). Still, he fears that Linda’s son, Adriel, may be in danger, so he heads for the Navajo Reservation, where Linda’s sister, Kay, convinces James to find her sister’s murderer. James quickly must determine the players on the reservation: He doesn’t know what to make of attractive, bullheaded reporter Gloria Fenwick, but tribal officer Wayne Tully becomes his close ally in an off-the-books hunt for Linda’s killer. Linda’s death appears to be tied to a potential disaster caused by a company exploiting tribal resources; James becomes a target himself, as many don’t want the white man looking into Navajo corruption. Boyle has created an intriguing modern hero in James—the re-entry of Molly into his life means that he has to stop running. One of the novel’s most enjoyable storylines charts how the pair grow closer as they investigate together. The strong supporting cast has intriguing secrets to be explored in future books in the Pinter P.I. series. The reservation itself becomes a character as Boyle deftly delves into pressing issues affecting Indigenous people; her narrative is a slow burn, building to a surprising conclusion.

A gripping thriller.

Kirkus Reviews