I like Colin Conway’s books generally, so I figured I’d try Cutler’s Return, the first installment in his new John Cutler series. It’s rather different from his other work, and presents certain challenges.

John Cutler used to be a policeman in Seattle. His career blew up through a combination of bad luck and bad decisions. One of his bad decisions was his relationship with Paige, a stripteaser. He understood as well as anyone that there was no future with her, but she was like an addiction to him.

Since then he’s been living in the eastern part of the state, subsisting on temporary jobs. One day Paige calls him up out of the blue – she says something has been stolen from her, and she’ll pay him to come back and find it for her. He needs the money, but the chance to see Paige again is an equal draw. But when he gets back to Seattle, things start going wrong from the beginning. The detective who destroyed his career is still around, and still gunning for him. There’s a murder, and John is an obvious suspect. Everybody is lying, and John may not possess the self-mastery he’ll need to solve the mystery and keep himself out of prison.

Colin Conway knows how to write, and delivers his usual solid prose. Unsympathetic main characters are always a challenge for a writer, and it must be stated that John Cutler is often hard to like. He has major anger issues, and doesn’t always control them. However, this is the first book in a series, and it seems probable that John will be learning hard lessons as he goes on.

I also have to mention that I found the final showdown scene a little weak – it’s one of those action sequences where the hero survives almost purely through good luck.

Still, it’s a promising series. If you haven’t read Conway before, though, I’d suggest you start with something else. Cautions for language and mature themes.