La Jolla PI Rick Cahill makes his living mainly by investigating adultery cases, until one day he gets a call from workers at his former home. It seems they’ve discovered a safe behind a hidden panel in a closet that belonged to his now-deceased father. Cahill has to have the safe opened by a pro. Inside is a key to a safe deposit box. When he finally manages to view the contents of the safe deposit box, he is shocked. He finds a Saturday Night Special, two spent shell casings and $15,000 in cash. Cahill’s father left the La Jolla PD under a dark cloud and Rick wonders if any of these items are connected. His investigation will lead him down a dark path towards a truth that may cost him the ultimate price.

Blood Truth by Matt Coyle is the 4th entry in the Rick Cahill series. Set in La Jolla, CA, this series features a mid-weight sleuth relative to others in this genre. Coyle has created a cast of interesting characters which engage readers and leave them wanting more. If you are looking for a mystery series that is somewhere between the hard-core plots of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and the mystery-solving cat of Lillian Braun, then I would recommend the Rick Cahill mysteries. I would give this book 4/5 stars.

**An electronic copy of this book was the only consideration received in exchange for this review.**

“Blood Truth” by Matt Coyle is part of the Rick Cahill series, but it is not necessary to have read the previous books to absolutely love this one. Any background information a new reader might need is included as part of the narrative without spending pages and pages unnecessarily rehashing the previous books.

Rick Cahill is a former police officer, turned PI who is haunted by his past. Coyle takes us inside Cahill’s head as he tries to do penance for everyone’s misdeeds and bad decisions, including his own. He attempts to correct those previous mistakes, and that just is not always possible.

The upside is that we readers get to follow him around beautiful La Jolla California.
“The sun danced off the ocean far below,
and a gentle breeze slowly pushed scattered clouds around the blue sky.
Idyllic. Paradise. “

Unfortunately, this poetic paradise is just out of Rick’s reach. Bad childhood memories come screaming into the present when the owner of Rick’s childhood home finds a long-forgotten wall safe owned by his dad. The contents compel him to resolve his father’s involvement in a long-ago homicide cold case. To further complicate his life, his former girlfriend hires him to investigate her cheating spouse.” Just a typical day for a PI.”

This “typical” day leads Rick into a web of conspiracy, double dealing, and treachery that encompasses everyone from the local police to the Russian mob and the California Coastal Commission. The action bounces back and forth between the “cheating spouse” case and the cold case murder as Rick searches to find answers and to resolve his feelings about himself and about everyone else.

Rumors, accusations, and lies swirl around like papers in the wind as Rick struggles to solve “murder, the one crime with no expiration date.” How far will he go to reconcile past with the present? Will he make a pact with the devil? The good and the bad are hiding in plain sight and Rick cannot tell them apart. Who made just one bad decision and who has always had a hidden dark soul? In the end, the puzzle pieces finally fall into place, and in a most unexpected and upsetting way.

I was able to read “Blood Truth” in advance thanks to Oceanview Publishing, Matt Coyle, and NetGalley. This great book will have every reader speculating about what comes next, and sympathizing with Rick as he flounders through his own life and the lives and deaths of others. Plan your reading time wisely, because this book will take over your schedule.

Rick Cahill's on-going struggles with the La Jolla Police Department, his ex-wife, his former girlfriend and a PI colleague add sparkles of interest to a case that begins with a simple request to check up on his former girlfriend's husband and grows to a conflagration of murders, bribes, treachery, and elements of Rick's father's past problems. The style of writing is clear and follows a distinct timeline. The characters are unique and developed in depth. The suspense is palpable as danger threatens at every turn. I guarantee you will not guess the ending.

Great read about an adult son's quest to clear his deceased father's name, despite evidence to the contrary. The story reveals that there is a childlike place deep within each of us that desperately wants our parent to be our hero.

Fourth in the novels about Rick Cahill a hard boiled detective following in the traditions of authors like Raymond Chandler and characters like Sam Spade. Rick is now residing in the La Joya area of southern California and makes a living as a private detective. So far in the series he has lost his wife to a murderer and is a suspect in the crime, lost a lady love due to his own impossible personality. He is living with the memories of his father being kicked off the police force and spiraling down as a drunk to his death 27 years ago.
The book begins with Rick finding items placed by his father in a long hidden safe in his house. At the same time the girl he was in love with asks him to investigate her husband who she feels is cheating on her.
Rick agrees and a two fold story unfolds; one about his ex girl friend's husband and the other about what is the truth about his father. Did his dad turn into a drunken, broken individual and die a criminal and should he find the truth about his ex girl friend's husband possibly winning her back.
Ingredients are the same as in the first three books about Cahill. There is an absorbing plot including the Russian Mafia, a cast of characters that connect the past with the present and of course an ending that sets up novel number five in the series.
Mr Coyle's writing is fast, to the point and certainly more than capable of keeping the reader glued to the book and awaiting the next one. As always very well done.

A proper hard boiled detective story. Rick has two mysteries to solve - what happened in his policeman father's last case, and what is happening in his ex girlfriend's life right now that somehow involves the biggest crook in town. And is there some connection?
The language and characters are as expected, but the writing is modern and fresh. Rick isn't always Mr nice guy, his female sidekick isn't there just to be pretty.
An exciting new voice.

Rick Cahill PI receives a call from a man who has torn down the house where Rick grew up and found a safe in the wall. Rick goes to pick it up and has an old .25 pistol and $15,000 in hundred dollar bills. There is a safe deposit box key also and so the mystery begins. All of this has something to do with his dad's leaving the La Joya PD 28 years ago and a still unsolved murder from that time. About the same time he is hired by his ex girlfriend to follow her husband who she thinks is having an affair. Rick worshiped his dad until her left the force and drank himself to death. This story takes us through how he finds what happened in the unsolved murder and how it is related to what is going on in his life today. Great old gumshoe kind of work by Rick and his friend Moria.

4 stars

Our story opens with Rick going to his old home where he lived with his now deceased father. The current owner is remodeling and found a safe under the floor. He wants Rick to have it.

He then gets a call from a former girlfriend Kim who is now married. She wants him to follow her husband Jeffrey to ascertain if he is cheating on her. Reluctantly, Rick takes the case. In no time at all Rick and Moria his sometimes assistant track the man to a hotel where he meets with a woman. After taking pictures, Rick notices someone else in the area. It is Peter Stone, a man who tried to kill him some years earlier. He tracks him to the woman’s room. Things are getting interesting – and odd. What would this guy have to do with the woman and by association, the Kim’s husband?

Meanwhile, Rick leaves the safe at a locksmith’s to have it drilled open. He finds a packet of money, a key and a gun in the safe. The key belongs to a safe deposit box that Rick tracks down quickly. He learns that there is also a checking account with a co-signor on it named Antoinette King. This account has been active for eighteen years – since his father died.

Kim asks Rick to tail the woman with whom Jeffrey met on the balcony of the hotel. Rick is reluctant because tailing someone without authority is unethical. Rick and Moira begin to tail the woman named Sophia Domingo.

The book takes off on an interesting trail of bribes, extortion, deceit and lies. All this has to do with shady dealing and property development deals.

This is a well written and plotted novel. I enjoyed reading it. The characters are likeable and sufficient background information is given to flesh out the characters, but not so much that it detracts from the story. The suspense builds nicely and the novel moves along apace. This is my first Matt Coyle novel, but I am sure it won’t be my last.

I want to thank Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

I had never heard of Matt Coyle (Author) before or Rick Cahill, the anti-hero PI now in his fourth book but am glad that I have now had the chance to discover them and look forward to reading the previous three books in the series. I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the writing in what could have been a very hackneyed storyline. The story of jaded PI who left the Police Department under a cloud, helping his ex-girlfriend whilst trying to comes to grips with ghosts of his fathers past in lesser hands could have been extremely cliched but as written by Mr Coyle was an extremely enjoyable read. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of good detective books

My favorite character used to be Jack Reached, but no more. Rick Cahill has taken that place for me. We readers sometimes find that one special character and author who just resonates with them and I have never related to or enjoyed a series as much as this wonderful series by Matt Coyle.
It just gets better with each new book. Lucky for me and those readers fortunate enough to discover this authors work. Bravo! Mr. Coyle! Long live Rick Cahill!!!!