Gravewriter
A Novel
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"Even better than his Shamus-finalist debut, Spiked."
---Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Speak Ill of the Living
Highly praised by both reviewers and mystery writers, Mark Arsenault introduces a stunning new suspense series with his courtroom drama, Gravewriter.
Billy Povich used to be a journalist. He lost his wife because of his gambling habit, and then she died in a car crash. Now he finds himself writing obituaries and living with his elderly father and seven-year-old son, Bo.
Billy plans to kill the man who was at the wheel the night of his wife's death. But then a summons to jury duty for a murder trial delays Billy's agenda. As the trial heats up, Billy finds that his little boy spots danger faster than he does, and a frantic and deadly chase begins with Billy as the prey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Providence, R.I., Arsenault's quietly potent first in a new series introduces down-on-his-luck obituary writer Billy Povich. Deeply in debt to loan sharks and still reeling from the death of his ex-wife a year earlier, Billy finds distraction from his woes while serving as a juror in the trial of Peter Shadd, a punk who shot dead career criminal Garrett Nickel in an escape attempt the pair made from prison. What looks like a clear case of murder develops holes as Billy looks closer. Then the only other juror who questions the case takes a nosedive out of a parking garage, and an unknown man in a fedora begins dogging Billy. Through his friendship with pretty social worker Mia Kahn, Billy starts piecing together the complex, sordid truth. Just when the gray streets of Providence threaten to become hopelessly noir, Arsenault (Spiked) adds just the right touch of humor or tenderness. Particularly affecting are scenes with Billy's seven-year-old son, Bo, and even a massive leg-breaking thug named Walter has his lighter moments.
