This is the follow up to Central Park West , by former FBI director James Comey, which once again utilises his professional expertise as he immerses the reader in the world of high finance and corporate espionage at Saugatuck Associates, a hugely profitable hedge fund. In this tense thriller, Nora Carleton has relocated to Westport, recruited by CFO Helen Carmichael, as their legal counsel, and to use her investigative skills, below the radar, to look into suspicions of 'front running', with someone making a fortune from insider dealing. Nora is now extremely well rewarded, allowing the purchase of a big home, a great school for her 8 year old daughter, Sophie, and is supported by her mother, Teresa.

Her workplace, run by the eccentric David Jepson, is certainly different with its culture of truth telling and is anti gossip, but everything is turned upside down when a murdered Helen is discovered in a canoe owned by Nora, and there is blood on her car. Someone is trying to frame Nora for murder, and instinctively she calls former colleagues, mafia investigator, Benny Dugan, and Carmen Garcia, who do not hesitate to help. Benny joins with Security Director, Laslo Reiner, to look into potential suspects, as Nora finds herself suspended, with local detective, Demi Kofatos, not quite buying into her guilt, although her boss, Tom Dunham, is desperate to have Nora charged. The victim Helen turns out to have secret files, she had external PIs dig into the dirt and secrets of members of an MC that fails to live up to their culture and instead resembles a snake pit.

This is a fast paced, well plotted, and intriguing mystery thriller, packed with suspense and tension, that had me rapidly turning the pages right up to the tense conclusion with the revelation of a surprising killer. We are left with developments in which once again Nora is moving home for her new position, I look forward with great anticipation to the next in this exciting series by an author who has made himself entirely comfortable in the crime and mystery genre. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Westport” by James Comey is a good mystery novel that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The story unfolds in a quirky investment business based in a quaint New England town, setting the stage for a classic closed-room murder mystery with a modern twist.

Comey crafts a diverse cast of personalities, each with their own quirks and complexities. As the story progresses, these characters grow on you, making it easy to become invested in their fates and motivations.

With its clever twists and turns, Comey keeps readers guessing until the very end. The closed-room setting adds an extra layer of tension, as suspicion mounts and secrets are revealed. Comey delivers a neat solution that ties up loose ends while still leaving room for surprises.

Westport is James Comey’s second crime thriller.

The précis of the book is good however I felt it just didn’t quite deliver on its promise with the “investigation” being slightly padded with the book losing some of its pace at times. I also managed to work out “whodunnit” quite early on.

Overall it was a decent and enjoyable read.

A brilliant character driven story that left me wanting to know more about each person and to experience more of their interactions which were endlessly entertaining. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline was excellent too and it took me til close to the end to figure it all out but in this book it’s the relationships that win the day. Thank you to Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

This book took me a few chapters to get into, but once in I was addicted. the body of a woman found in a canoe and all the evidence points to the perpetrator as being Nora Carleton. She didn't do it, others around her don't think she did but the police are looking at her as being the number one suspect.

Nora lives with her daughter and mother, she has joined a hedge fund company called Saugatuck Associates. She was friends with the victim, Helen, and Nora was aware that there was an investigation being run by Helen. Nora found Helen a nice woman, got on well and were friends.

Nora has friends in the best places, and she calls on them to help her. Benny works for the US attorney's office and Carmen is an attorney. The three of them start to dig and delve into Saugatuck and the hierarchy that runs the show.

Saugatuck is an interesting company that the author has created and it adds an interesting twist. Truth and transparency are something the company preaches and expects its employees to do the same. Some do, some think they do and some don't. Working out which falls into which category makes for some interesting reading. As they look into Helen they discover she was running a personal investigation and she has discovered many secrets.

It took me a while to get to grips initially, I think that was because I wasn't sure where the story was going, to be honest though, if I had read the synopsis it would have helped! Also, I couldn't quite get a feel for the story or the characters, however, after a few chapters things started to happen and my interest was definitely piqued. I should also mention this is a follow-on from a previous book!

This is a murder mystery and one the author has added twists and red herrings to many times. It keeps you on your toes. There are also some light-hearted moments and this helps to alleviate some of the tension for Nora. There are several characters for the author and reader to deal with, but actually, these are used really well. Brought up when needed for questioning or being referred to, this means these additional characters are always in context rather than popping up randomly.

The main characters are memorable and some have some unique traits, these worked well in the storyline and also gave some of that light-heartedness I mentioned.

This is a complex book as I sit now and write my review, but at the time it had a wonderful flow and I didn't feel out of my depth. One for those who like crime, murder and mystery stories and one I would happily recommend.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller, a mix of whodunit and financial thriller. Even if the background is complex the author did a good job in keeping everything simple and delivering a gripping plot
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm not sure there is anyone who can play the 'been there, done that' card more than James Comey - and it really comes across in his writing.

Excellent storyline and a great sense of the behind-the-scenes which you know comes from a knowledgeable place.

Central Park West was good - this is even better. Taut, exciting, and with several characters returning from his first book who are brilliantly drawn and developed.

What could be complex financial machinations are simplified and are integral to an original plot.

The excitement is constant and the red herrings abound before a denouement that ends an exceptional book in a satisfactory and satisfying manner.

Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed Central Park West, James Comet's previous book, so was very happy to meet Nora and her family again.
Nora has taken a new job as legal counsel in a high-tech investment company, and is part of a team trying to find corrupt employees in the company.
Nora's friend and colleague Helen is killed and Nora is being set up for her murder so she calls on Barney and Carmen, her previous law enforcement colleagues for help.
The team carry out their own investigation to clear Nora, with their trademark professional skills, connections, and Barney's unorthodox and entertaining interrogation methods.
Very enjoyable. Recommended.

Apparently the second in a series, but I think it can be read easily enough as a stand-alone.
I found this an an enjoyable enough read and finished it in two sittings: while it's not doing anything revolutionary or even different with the sub genre it's written in it moved along nicely.
I found one of the main characters a little bit inconsistent in terms of dialogue and portrayal but that might well just have been me.
It read, for me, like a good summer holiday book which, given its publication date I'm sure will find its way onto plenty of folks' beach reading lists.