Prom night and Darina was having a great time – until someone killed her and stuffed her body in a wall.
Now, twenty years later, Boston homicide detective Aislinn Byrne is staring at her friend’s dehydrated body, draped over a chunk of broken drywall. For two decades Aislinn wondered what happened to Darina – how and why she disappeared without a trace. Aislinn works the case hard, but it’s a convoluted path to the truth. Darina’s father, Alexi, was running organized crime rackets and was murdered six months before she went missing. The obvious question boils up to the surface – are the two murders connected – and if so, how?
Curtis Westcott, head of Boston Homicide, reopens Alexi’s unsolved murder and that puts him head-to-head with a trifecta of powerful gangsters. It’s a wall of silence, but Westcott gradually begins to peel back the layers. As he and Aislinn share information and both investigations move ahead, one thing becomes clear – the killer is still out there and watching their every move.
Now, twenty years later, Boston homicide detective Aislinn Byrne is staring at her friend’s dehydrated body, draped over a chunk of broken drywall. For two decades Aislinn wondered what happened to Darina – how and why she disappeared without a trace. Aislinn works the case hard, but it’s a convoluted path to the truth. Darina’s father, Alexi, was running organized crime rackets and was murdered six months before she went missing. The obvious question boils up to the surface – are the two murders connected – and if so, how?
Curtis Westcott, head of Boston Homicide, reopens Alexi’s unsolved murder and that puts him head-to-head with a trifecta of powerful gangsters. It’s a wall of silence, but Westcott gradually begins to peel back the layers. As he and Aislinn share information and both investigations move ahead, one thing becomes clear – the killer is still out there and watching their every move.
Momma Says: 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
About 18 months or so ago I read the first Curtis Westcott story and absolutely loved it. As I recall, I said that Jeff Buick had set the bar quite high for whatever came next in the series. Then I waited to see what that would be. As it turns out, good things come to those who wait because The Wrong Side of Murder is a thoroughly gripping story with terrific characters.
Curtis is almost, but not quite, a secondary character here. Detective Aislinn Byrne is at the forefront of the story, and she has a bit of a personal stake in the case. I really liked Aislinn. She's tough and works hard to keep her emotions from showing, but she has a good heart. Curtis does have a related case to work on and it takes him to some colorful characters. Even those characters, those that had only scattered appearances, were done so well that I even ended up liking a couple of them - probably more than I should since they were pretty shady guys. Salvatore, in particular, was a favorite.
The story is a combination of mystery, procedural, crime drama, and thriller, and it certainly keeps you guessing with more suspects than you can shake a stick at. Procedurals can get tedious at times, but that's not a problem here. Every clue that way chased down, every interrogation, every conversation was interesting and added something to the story - even if it was a bit of misdirection. I really enjoyed the reveal and Aislinn's explanation of how she got there.
I'm always on the lookout for crime series with characters I can get invested in and cases that keep me glued to the page. We're two for two with this series, and I really hope to see much more of Curtis Westcott and company. Jeff Buick has penned another gritty tale with The Wrong Side of Murder, and I'll be waiting for the next big case.
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