Dying Embers
An Art Hardin Mystery
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Art Hardin, retired military intelligence officer turned private investigator, is content with his regular caseload involving insurance fraud and employee theft. So when a wealthy industrialist approaches Art to find an old flame, he's wary of taking on the case.
Only when pressed by his wife, Wendy, does Art agree to help, but only if the decision to make contact is left to the missing person. The fo
rmer lover, a reclusive but prominent artist who has changed her name, turns up dead shortly after Art locates her.
His client charged with murder and his detective's license revoked, an angry Hardin finds himself the subject of "professional"; surveillance, his office ransacked, and his life up for grabs as a shoot-out erupts on the street.
The FBI, long on requests and short on information, approaches Art for his help—to act as bait. Seemingly out of options, Art agrees, but with an ace up his sleeve. Aided by an outlaw motorcycle gang, Art decides that this time, the bait is going to bite back.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Mean streets" may seem more desperate running through Detroit or Chicago than through Grand Rapids, Mich., but Bailey's second Art Hardin mystery (after 2002's Private Heat) showcases a PI who could hold his own anywhere. Hardin is quick with a quip, can give and take a punch, actually knows how to investigate a missing person or workplace theft and has a supporting cast that's not always completely supportive. When wealthy inventor Scott Lambert asks Hardin to locate Anne Jones, an old college flame of Lambert's, Hardin does so with the proviso that when found, further contact will be at the woman's discretion. Finding Jones doesn't prove too difficult, but getting in touch with her is, especially after she's murdered. The case is clearly no simple love story, and Hardin becomes embroiled with his client's affairs. The author ably mixes action and exposition, as Hardin's seemingly simple quest spills over in all directions as the body count rises. Bailey may stretch his plot too thin for elegance, but Hardin and an entertaining cast of cops, federal agents, a motorcycle gang and a street gang led by a dude named Poco Loco reduce that to a quibble. Buckle up and enjoy a wild ride through the mean streets of Grand Rapids.
