Random Act: A Jack McMorrow Mystery #12

by Gerry Boyle

Overview

Love is hell...or maybe it's just who we choose to love. After all, how do we really know who anyone is?

When Maine's favorite reporter, Jack McMorrow, heads out to the hardware store on a routine chore, little does he know that he's about to witness a senseless murder that will have vicious repercussions. With his instinct and nose for news, McMorrow chases leads that take him into the dark side of Downeast—the side the tourist brochures don't show. At the same time, his best friend, Louis has fallen for a mysterious blonde with Russian ties and a hankering for money and intrigue that could put everything Jack loves in peril.

In Random Act, author Gerry Boyle's 12th McMorrow mystery, everything seems like a coincidence—until it doesn't.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944762681
Publisher:	Islandport Press
Publication date:	06/04/2019
Series:	Jack McMorrow Mystery , #12
Pages:	380
Sales rank:	462,992
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Gerry Boyle began his writing career in newspapers, an industry he calls the "best training ground ever." After graduating from Colby College, Boyle knocked around, working as a roofer, a postman, and then as a manuscript reader in New York. However, he soon realized he preferred rural northern Maine to the bustle of Manhattan. His first reporting job was in the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine, before he moved on to the (Waterville) Morning Sentinel, where editors learned quickly that he worked best when left to his own devices. And Boyle learned that the line between upstanding citizen and outlaw is a fine one, indeed. His experiences as a reporter inspired his first novel, Deadline, in 1993. He continues to write gritty, authentic mysteries featuring his signature character, Jack McMorrow.

Editorial Reviews

04/29/2019

Well-developed characters and convincing dialogue propel Boyle’s solidly plotted 12th mystery featuring Maine freelance journalist Jack McMorrow (after 2016’s Straw Man). While out shopping, Jack hears a scream from inside a box store. He rushes toward the sound and sees Lindy Hines, a friendly, cheerful woman he ran into before entering the store, lying in a pool of blood. Store employees are wrestling a raving, hatchet-wielding man to the floor. Afterward, Jack thinks: “I didn’t want to accept that violent death was doled out randomly, like the number on a scratch ticket. I didn’t want to accept that this nice person had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.” As he interviews those who knew the victim, he uncovers more than one reason why someone might want Lindy dead. Meanwhile, Louis, Jack’s reclusive and wealthy friend, reconnects with a mysterious East European woman, who was Louis’s first love at boarding school years before and now seeks his protection. Each of these parallel stories leads to danger. Readers will enjoy spending time in Jack’s head as he thinks through the murder case. (June)

Publishers Weekly