And the Devil Walks Away

 

Helen Lipscomb seemingly has nowhere to go but down. Cashiered from the force, ostracized by most of her former acquaintances, and with no real connections left to the community, she's been getting by as a sort of unofficial investigator, doing piecework for various lawyers and bail bondsmen. Her former life as a homicide detective seems far behind her until a notorious serial killer, locked away and facing the death penalty, offers her the challenge of a lifetime. Not to prove his innocence, but to prove him guilty of even more murders than the authorities suspect, murders for which another convicted man, several states away, is taking credit.

 my review...

I have read many of Kevin Doyle’s crime thrillers. This one is a little different, good, but different. Helen, a former female cop, is the private investigator in Doyle’s story this time. Low on funds and low on prospects, Helen agrees to a job that is really unusual. She gets dragged in not just for money but out of curiosity too. Is the serial killer that needs her help a monster or just a murderer?

Kevin Doyle seems to be able to write series and stand-alone books equally well. He has most certainly painted an excellent character in “And the Devil Walks Away.”

Sometimes I think it’s difficult to create a character in an ongoing series and create interesting new characters book by book. He’s done that in every story I’ve read. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Doyle’s Sam Quinton character from his series of the same name, but each stand-alone book I’ve read has an equally engaging character. Am I going on about character description and creation here? They are important to me. Characters often keep me reading a book more than the actual plot. And…Kevin Doyle is good at crafting them. Hope he creates some more except…I wouldn’t mind seeing Sam Quinton again. Nevertheless, I’ll read anything he writes. 

read an excerpt...

“Huh?” The beginnings of a headache developed as she tried to follow the lawyer’s logic.

“Every day that we’d spend in motions, hearings, or actual trial, were we to get so lucky, would be one extra day that Mr. Benson’s part of the news. Do you have any idea what the publicity of the last few years has done to his various companies’ stock valuations? Not to mention their overall bottom line?”

“I get it,” Helen said, leaning back in the chair. “Don’t want the entire thing to go down the rabbit hole, right?”

“Exactly.”

 "You’re not going to try to get him out at some point, are you?” she asked.

 "I would if I could,” Conroy said, “and please don’t look so shocked. You know how the game’s played as well as anyone. Probably better than most. It’s my job to get my client the best deal I can. Even so,” he shook his head, “some sort of freedom, any certain number of years, would be too much even for me to pull off. No, Leo Benson, minus all his billions of dollars, is going to spend the rest of his life, however long that may be, in either this prison or one very similar.”

“So what you’re after is getting rid of the death penalty,” Helen said.

Conroy nodded. “Both here and, if it ever gets to that, in Colorado. And that’s where you come in.”

about Kevin Doyle...

A retired high-school teacher and former college instructor, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written four crime thrillers including The Group and The Anchor, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel.  The fourth Sam Quinton book, Clean Win, was released in March of 2023.

 

Web site: kevindoylefiction.com

Facebook: facebook.com/kevindoylefiction

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6473241.Kevin_R_Doyle

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509239375

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/and-the-devil-walks-away-kevin-r-doyle/1137341992

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/and-the-devil-walks-away-1

 

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