Trouble in Bay Town
Trouble in Bay Town
by Alan M. Blank
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 01 Jun 2017
Review
Trouble in Bay Town is just what it aims to be - a modern mystery featuring an old-school private eye. Sonny Knight is a soft-boiled pi - a gentleman with a moral code, a willingness to act when he sees a wrong being done who is unafraid to act even if it puts him at risk. He may call his office manager Angel, but he’s far from being a misogynist. Another way he differs from “hard boiled” pi’s is in his positive outlook and sense of hope.
Trouble in Bay Town reminded me a bit of Doyle’s The Redheaded League. Hortense Oglethorpinger hires Sonny to discover why she hasn’t received an inheritance she expected, and why she is no longer being paid to play the piano on Tuesday nights at Go Fly a Kite - a restaurant where noone who plays on Tuesday nights normally gets paid. The case is odd and doesn’t interest Sonny as much as the disappearances of a number of women - disappearances that oddly enough just may be linked to the Oglethorpinger case.
Alan M Blank gives readers plenty of clues, making the perpetrators of the crimes obvious. What is far from obvious is the surprising twist that comes out towards the end. It makes the story far more interesting.
I liked Trouble in Bay Town a lot. Sonny Knight is a likeable lead, easygoing and charming in an oldfashioned way. It is also easy to like the other supporting characters and equally to despise the criminals. The plot is cleanly developed, albeit not overly complicated. The bad guys get caught, the good guys get rewarded and Sonny gets to waltz into the sunset (figuratively speaking) with a beautiful doctor. The novel is an entertaining read that doesn’t pile on the tension, perfect for those with a liking for old school mysteries or a taste for nostalgia.
4 / 5
I received a copy of Trouble in Bay Town from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
Crittermom
Description
Can a 1940s-style, cell phone- hating, throwback detective solve a kidnapping mystery in Bay Town? Only one way to find out.
Sonny Knight is a private investigator in the heart of Bay Town. A man of strong moral principles, a sense of justice and he doesn't back down when he sees something is wrong.
Miss Hortense Oglethorpinger is getting paid every Tuesday night to perform at Bay Town's classiest joint, Go Fly A Kite. The only problem is, it's a performance that no one else gets paid for. Is it a coincidence that on each night Miss Oglethorpinger performs, a woman disappears without a trace? Sonny needs to figure out what one has to do with the other.
Grab your Panama hat and follow Sonny Knight as he unravels, what might be, the biggest scandal in Bay Town's history.
Trouble in Bay Town is available for purchase in print, audiobook and ebook formats.
