The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods

This not quite a cozy mystery features justice, a form of vengeance, and at least the beginnings of redemption for one of the minor characters. It has some mystery to it and some suspense. The setting and protagonist make it seem like a cozy, but it’s a little raw for a true cozy. It’s labeled as a thriller on Amazon, but I would not call it a thriller. It’s an interesting read and the start of a potentially good series.

The Reverend Thomas Book is second fiddle at a well-established church called Saint Mungo’s in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. While the niece of one of the wealthy patrons of the church is shooting a documentary about the church, a body is uncovered in the basement furnace room that had been there for some time. This launches a series of events in which Tom finds himself a target and a possible suspect for murder. He has a sidekick, Michael Powers, an ex-cop that is still involved in law enforcement. Michael is also Tom’s protector. There are several exciting scenes that the typical minister would not be involved in. Early on, there are a couple supernatural events, but these happen and are mentioned on and off but never deeply explored.

The topics this book deals with are what make the story compelling. It tackles abuse of power, buried family secrets, keeping up appearances at a steep cost, addiction, the Fentanyl issues, and the impacts bad parenting can have on children well into their adult years. It’s a large mix that Mr. Woods weaves together well.

For the most part, the story is clean. However, there is some profanity, again, knocking it out of the cozy genre. No on page sex, though immoral and illegal sexual affairs are one major topic of the story. For the Christian reader, the church and Tom are on the liberal side of social issues. The book is well-written, but it does have quite a few typos. Not enough for the non-writing reader to be distracting. It’s a series that I may continue at some later date. I’ll rank this one fifth of those I’ve read so far this year.

1. The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
2. Relentless by Ed Gorman
3. After Her Deceit by Steve Rush
4. Water Grave by Mitchell S. Karnes
5. The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods
6. Neon Prey by John Sandford
7. Perfect Daughter by Ion Esimai

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