The Murder Inn-James Patterson, Candice Fox, authors; Corey Carthew, narrator
In Gloucester, a quiet town of Massachusetts, there is a seaside inn with temporary and permanent guests. Each of the guests is a bit off the grid, marching to the beat of their own drummer. Suddenly the solitude of the town is rattled by criminal activity. Bodies are piling up everywhere, and somehow, Le Chateau au bord de la Mer, the Inn by the Sea is no longer a place of refuge.
Bill Robinson and Susan Solie run the inn together. Although they are a couple, they are unmarried. She, a former FBI agent, survived an abusive relationship, and he, a former cop, is a widower still grieving the loss of his wife, Siobhan. Clay Spears sees himself as a temporary guest. He is a sheriff. His wife had recently left him. Angelica Grace Thomas-Lowell if more permanent as are others. She is an author and humanitarian, among other things. Nick Jones is suffering from schizophrenia, and is Bill’s closest friend. Bill has taken him under his wing and is protecting him from outbursts as best he can. Then there is a new guest, April and her son, Joe, on an unexplained long-term vacation/adventure. They are not sure where they will go from Gloucester. Vinny Robetti is in a wheelchair. He is actually a retired gangster. Neddy is a guest who hardly ever leaves his room, and his past is just as colorful. Effie Johnson is the handywoman. The resident rat called Crazy, wears a collar around its neck with a little bell. Crazy is her pet.
One day, Bill convinces Nick to go with him to a memorial service for Mark Bulger, a retired cop. Mark’s wife, Shauna, is grieving. That night, trying to sleep alone in her house, she hears noises and is attacked by two thugs, Poonie and Marris. They want to know where the safe is, and she has absolutely no idea what they are talking about. They beat her up a bit until she gets hold of a shotgun and shoots off the woman’s head. Then Poonie escapes. He works for Norman Driver, supposedly the owner of a construction firm. His real business is drugs and he is a dangerous man who commits murder with no concern for consequences. He enjoys it. He also seems to get away with it. Somehow, many people run around threatening and killing people and get away with it.
Shauna Bulger discovers that her husband was indeed a dirty cop. When she finds the safe in question, it contains the money and evidence to prove he was involved with Driver, was corrupt and compromised big time. At first, she is shocked. Then she sets out to achieve her own kind of justice, especially for the beating she so recently received at the hands of the punks that worked for Driver. She reinvents herself. She might have known her husband was no angel, but she had no idea how far he had strayed.
At the same time as this takes place, Bill discovers that when Nick was in Afghanistan, he was involved in a heinous crime that is coming back to haunt him. Karli Breecher has found him and tells him that Roger Dorrich, another of the soldiers involved is dead, but Rick Master is missing. She tells him that Dorrich thought someone had found out what they had done and was after them. Nick is worried, guilt-ridden and ashamed. Bill swears to keep his secret. He is willing to compromise his honor in order to help his friend.
The newest guest, April, tells Clay, the sheriff, that she is running from her abusive husband. She seems attracted to Clay, and he is so vulnerable because of his own love life, that he falls for her advances toward him, sometimes clouding his ability to think appropriately.
As the novel plays out, it twists and turns as secrets are revealed. it sometimes seems like science fiction or a fairy tale; the scenes are so outlandish at times. Sometimes there is excessive emotion or inappropriate melodrama that distracts not only the characters, but also the readers. Everyone seems to be living a double life or living a lie. Suspend disbelief as you read it. It often feels like it is meant to ridicule unscrupulous people and behavior by showing how people with scruples turn to unscrupulous behavior. It is, however, a multiple murder mystery which you will find entertaining, as the bodies keep piling up with no consequences from law and order, and everyone takes law and order into their own hands.