Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Dead Man's Hand (Calvin Watters) by Luke Murphy

Calvin Watters used to be an NFL star but when he was forced to quit he became a debt collector in Las Vegas. When they try to frame him for the murder of a casino owner he sets out to prove he's an innocent man.
Detective Dale Dayton's marriage is going through a rough time as he is charged with solving this murder. As he investigates he becomes convinced Calvin didn't do it, even if a lot evidence seems to say he did.
Dale is pretty much your average crime novel hardnosed cop with a bad marriage and the police procedural aspect of things didn't appeal to me much. Calvin hower is a very unique character. He starts out as more of villain than hero and the sadistic ways he collects the debts make him a very unlikely protagonist. He's got some very good computer skills, is a good marksman and very intelligent. That makes him a pretty good detective which he shows here.
The story is in part a set-up as well for the second novel in which it seems there's a bad guy returning and Calvin will start a different career.

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