The Night Watchman-Mark Mynheir

The Night Watchman
Mark Mynheir
Multnomah, May 19 2009, $13.99
ISBN: 9781590529355

He is the night watchman at the Coral Bay Condominium in Orlando, but just eleven months ago, Ray Quinn was a tough superior OPD homicide detective. On orders from his boss, he and Trisha, his partner (professionally and personally), go to a suspects house to question that person. They are ambushed with Trisha dead and Ray’s career as a cop is over as he ate some bullets too.

When Pam Hendricks begs him to let her into her brother’s apartment, Ray opens the door to an ugly scene as David the pastor and Jamie the erotic dancer are dead inside. The police quickly conclude this is a murder-suicide. Pam pleads with Ray to clear her sibling’s reputation as she is convinced he was framed. Reluctantly , he agrees because her convictions persuade him that David is innocent. Using OPD connections, he notices anomalies that undo the open and shut case. However, he soon finds a connection that horrifies him as his private investigation links back to the ambush that destroyed his life. Proving it is nearly impossible as a key culprit works inside OPD and is watching him very closely; at least he believes so.

Ray lives with survivor guilt that consumes him with his only companion being Jack Daniels until Pam’s plea. By the time he nearly completes the case, he makes enemies with the few remaining people in the department who care about him as his obsession makes them with one deadly exception believe he crossed the line. Ray’s inquiry is top notch as readers wonder if he is losing his tentative grip on sanity yet Pam believes in him. He makes Mark Mynheir’s crime caper an entertaining fascinating thriller.

Harriet Klausner