This is the third book in a series and coming into it cold, made it hard to catch up. However, there is lots of action and plenty of twists and turns as the protagonist is accused of beating up a suspect who later turns up dead. There are lots of good and bad guys in this - and sometimes it's hard to remember or figure out who is who, but that kind of adds to the mystique. Boston is a great setting and I've noticed other reviewers refer to 30s noir, which I agree with. It's as though the author visualized this as a black and white movie while writing.
Overall I enjoyed it, although I sometimes cringed at the choice of words and some opinions felt like the author was speaking to me rather too much. For a good escapist novel, though, I'd recommend it as an easy read.

Description
When Dan Burton beats up Antoine Bousquet, the clothing designer suspect in the murder of two Chinese seamstresses, he jeopardizes his job as a homicide detective and his life. Bousquet is released without bail because of Burton’s mistake. When Bousquet turns up dead, beaten and tortured, Burton becomes the prime suspect. The department’s Internal Affairs inspectors, Bousquet’s live-in lover, several Russian gangsters, and the kingpin of the Boston underworld are all looking for Burton. But Elder Darrow, his best friend and proprietor of the Esposito bar, hides Burton and helps save his position on the Boston Police Department and rescue him from death. In the process, they expose an evil scheme by which illegal immigrants were effectively enslaved to work in Antoine Bousquet’s sweat shops.

My Review:
This is the third book in the series and as such I was a bit confused trying to follow the story. It would have been nice to see a brief summary for those who did not read the previous books.

That being said, once I figured out what was going on I thoroughly enjoyed the book The characters to me were well depicted.

This book was provided for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

I highly recommend this book, but warn you - you should read the first two books.

Richard J. Cass has a wonderful ability to make you feel as if you were right there watching the events unfold in this fast paced book that grips you from the discovery of the first victim to the final kill. Outstanding writing and characterization...

This is the 3rd in a series that features Homicide Detective Dan Burton. I highly recommend starting with Book 1 ..... I felt a little lost here like a boat without a rudder.

Burton beats up a suspect in the murder of two Chinese women... which leads to the release of the suspect ... and maybe the end of his career. When the suspect is found later, beaten and tortured. Burton becomes the primary suspect.

A lot of people are looking for him .... Internal Affairs, Russian gangsters, the Boston mafia.

This is an action packed novel full of bad guys and few good guys. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between them. Illegal immigrants play a huge part in this story and there are some comments by the author giving "his" personal political opinions (which put me off somewhat). Otherwise, it was entertaining and kept me turning the pages until the very end.

Many thanks to the author / Encircle Publications / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Third book in a series. Would have probably helped to understand the protagonist had I read the previous novels. Overall, a good mystery that keeps the reader’s interest.