Cemetery Lake by Paul Cleave

Intense murder mystery starring anti-hero P.I. Theo Tate

 Cemetery Lake
by Paul Cleave

Great story with a grim and urgent tone that seems a cross between a funeral eulogy and a runaway train. Theo Tate is a former cop and current rogue P.I. who is working on a multiple murder case despite warnings from his former colleagues on the police force to stay away. He is compelled to act, weaving in and outside of the law, by his feeling of responsibility for having possibly missed an opportunity a few years previous that may have brought the killer to an earlier justice, thereby saving lives. Tate is not an especially likable character. Although the reader can sympathize with his grief and pain, it's difficult to decide whether or not his unpredictable moral compass is leading him down the right path. With such heavy happenings at such a fast pace, this reader wanted to cry uncle on Tate's behalf at least once or twice. The story has the structure of a police procedural, but the main character's outsider status and the heavy suspense is engaging and keeps the pages turning at a good clip. I look forward to reading the next book starring Theo Tate, called Collecting Cooper, to see how Tate proceeds to blaze his path through crime in Christchurch, New Zealand.