"You can tell yourself there is no shame, no sin, no guilty. It was just a job that needed to be done so you did it."

This story starts with a bang. A house fire with four people inside already shot dead before it started. The only survivor is a young boy and the presumed killer seems too obvious a choice for our main character Cameron Winter. He quickly becomes intrinsically involved in the goings on of Maidenvale. Winter is determined to find the truth despite the corruption and lies he's faced with at every turn.

The story itself is fast paced with reprieves between events when we return to Winter's life as a college professor. My reading experience might have been elevated had I read the previous books from the Winter series. My favourite interactions were between Winter and his charismatic therapist Margaret. The book describes Winter as "a conundrum... a vexing mystery", he is certainly a very readable character!

I haven’t read the first two books in this series (but i will be reading them), but it read like a standalone so it didn’t matter too much.

The pacing started slow but picked up once I’d got into the story. The plot kept me engaged and reading until the end, and the characters were likeable and unique.

When four bodies are pulled from the wreckage of a fire in their opulent Chicago home, authorities are shocked to find that they have already been shot dead.

The only surviving witness to the crime is a child with no clear recollection of took place. There is an obvious suspect, too, who is quickly taken into custody. Is that person perhaps TOO obvious?

Be that as it may, the lead investigator seems inordinately keen to close the case, causing Cameron Winter - former spy and current academic - to feel suspicious about his motives wrt handling this case. Because Occam's Razor isn't always applicable...

Klavan is a gifted storyteller, and holds the reader's attention throughout. This is a gripping story that demonstrates some originality. Worth a read.