Book Review: "Truth Or Die" by Jack Lynch

"Truth or Die" by Jack Lynch started out slowly which, for me, isn't a good sign. I have to say though, by the middle and and end of the book I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the mystery and characters. "Truth of Die" starts out by introducing the reader to the main characters and letting us get to know them a little. This is where I found the book lagged, although it only lasted about 10% of the book. 

I also have to admit that at first I didn't like our hero, Peter Bragg as much as I wanted to. I found myself put off by his acceptance of the outrageous flirtation from a former female friend. It really didn't help that the woman flirting with him knew that Bragg was on vacation with his girlfriend. The whole situation came off a very unseemly but by the middle and end of the book I realized that it was a necessary evil within that female character (who ended up becoming Bragg's client).

Here's the gist of the mystery. Jo Sommers is accused of murdering her Psychiatrist husband right after she bumps into our hero, private investigator Peter Bragg, while he and his girlfriend are down in Carmel California enjoying the summer music festival. Bragg is dragged into investigating the murder for Jo Sommers because it looks like she's become the police's main suspect without sufficient proof. Mrs. Sommers is an overtly sexual flirt and this becomes a problem for Bragg. Just getting Jo to concentrate and help him uncover the reasons for her husband's murder is like pulling teeth. Jo is an unhappy woman in an unhappy marriage and she doesn't see how her behavior makes her culpable in the mayhem of this murder. As Bragg unravels the blackmail scheme behind the initial murder, others turn up dead and Bragg better hurry or he'll lose more than just his client to a murdering blackmailer.

As I said above, I didn't think I'd like this mystery because of the way it  started. I was pleasantly surprised in the end. I'd have to say that by the last chapter, the novel had just eked out a four out of five stars for me. I bumped it up from three to four because of the tight writing and excellent creative skills given to our hero, Bragg. I would certainly go back and read the other books by Jack Lynch, this was the sixth Bragg book so there are a bunch before this one to go sink my teeth into. Lynch writes a meaty mystery and I'm glad there are more to feast on.
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