Review - The Grocer's Son by Garrick Jones

Clyde's latest case comes very close to home. His young friend and one-time lover, Harley, comes to Clyde with a strange story. Harley and his mother were in the market one day when they were accosted by a man claiming to be his mother's brother, who was hanged for murder 20 years before. He also says that he is Harley's real father. The young man's mother faints, and the stranger disappears before he can answer any questions. So, Harley and his mother turn to Clyde for answers. Who was the man in the market? Did he murder the men he was hanged for killing? And, why was the trial and execution so rushed? The search for answers opens up a tangled web involving corrupt police and men who think wealth and power make them above the law.

This latest Clyde Smith Mystery offers up another complicated case of seemingly unrelated events surrounding the execution of Harley's father. As we've come to expect from this series, there are a lot of clues that seem to go nowhere before things finally start to fall into place. Something else we're used to in these stories is the concept that “justice” isn't always a matter of black and white.

Clyde continues to mature as a character. He has started seeing a therapist and recounts some of his visits with her. Clyde comes across as a little more steady in this outing. He's less likely to fly off the handle despite learning things that make him very angry. It also becomes even more clear how well-matched Clyde and Harry are. They had many similar experiences during the war and are well-equipped to understand each other.

This series includes a large cast of secondary characters, most of whom are involved in Clyde's agency in one way or another. We've learned quite a bit about them, making them very real personalities in their own right. Detective Mark Dioli from the previous book, The Gilded Madonna, also appears in this story, and it's nice to see that the author shows him having a difficult time adjusting to life without his vicious foster father. It demonstrates that escaping an abusive relationship is just the start of a long journey.

“The Grocer's Son” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).