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I\u2019m not sure why I\u2019m less than enthusiastic<\/strong> about Bruce Robert Coffin\u2019s police mystery, Among the Shadows<\/a><\/em>. It was quite well done, but it left me kind of cold.<\/p>\n John Byron is a detective sergeant in Portland, Maine. His marriage is falling apart, he\u2019s fighting the bottle, and he\u2019s resisting an attraction to a female subordinate. When a former cop dies in a hospital and it\u2019s ruled not from natural causes, John\u2019s assigned to the case. Then another old ex-cop \u2013 who\u2019d been on the same team with the first victim \u2013 also is killed, John begins to suspect a serial killer. Cop-killings are always top priority, but for John it\u2019s more personal. His father, long dead, was on the same team. But he finds his investigation stymied at every turn, by orders from above. He begins to suspect that one of his superiors is blocking his moves.<\/p>\n The story is good. I thought I\u2019d figured out whodunnit, but I wasn\u2019t even close. The final action was tense, dramatic, and surprising.<\/p>\n All I can figure out to explain my ambivalence is that I found John Byron\u2019s character uninteresting. He was right out of central casting. Middle aged, check. Marriage failing \u2013 check. Alcohol problem \u2013 check. Loose cannon, cuts procedural corners, conflict with superiors \u2013 check, check, check. It was like all the other police procedural heroes were thrown into a blender, and John Byron was what got poured out.<\/p>\n The usual cautions for language and mature situations apply. The only really offensive part (for me) was a brief, passing thumbs up to Dr. Kevorkian.<\/p>\n Technically an excellent police procedural, Among the Shadows<\/em> may please you more than it did me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m not sure why I\u2019m less than enthusiastic about Bruce Robert Coffin\u2019s police mystery, Among the Shadows. It was quite well done, but it left me kind of cold. John Byron is a detective sergeant in Portland, Maine. His marriage is falling apart, he\u2019s fighting the bottle, and he\u2019s resisting an attraction to a female … Continue reading ‘Among the Shadows, by Bruce Robert Coffin<\/span>