Players

A Detectives Seagate and Miner Mystery , Book 7

By: Mike Markel

Narrated by: Wendy Almeida

The death of Lake Williams, a former football player at Central Montana State, in his squalid tent in a homeless camp looks to Seagate and Miner like a routine heroin overdose. Soon, however, they discover that someone hired a courier to deliver the uncut heroin, knowing that Lake would shoot up and die instantly. When a second body turns up, and then a third, the evidence points to the head coach and the other leaders of the football program, who appear to be covering up a secret that would destroy the program. When a man comes forward, claiming to have committed numerous felonies on behalf of the program over many years, the detectives don't know whether he is the killer or merely a decoy in an elaborate misdirection play. In a heart-pounding final confrontation, Seagate and Miner confront the killer - and realize they have walked right into the trap.

©2016 Mike Markel (P)2016 Mike Markel

A solid, intriguing mystery

Detectives Seagate and Miner are on a puzzling, difficult case. A man has died in a homeless camp in a city park, apparently of an overdose--but this homeless man was Lake Williams, a former star football player for Central Montana University. His name was Lake Williams, and he was expected to go pro until a knee injury ended his career.

The OD that killed him was an injection of nearly pure heroin. Where would he have gotten it? When it becomes clear that a woman was paid to deliver the drug to him, paid by someone who knew Williams would inject it and die instantly, it doesn't become any clearer. Why would anyone want to kill a washed-up ex-college ball player?

When first a second body turns up, and then a third, evidence starts to point to dark secret inside the CMU football program, and a collection of community leaders committed to protecting the program and themselves, rather than the student players.

I liked Seagate, Miner, and their colleagues. It's not an improbably perfect police department, but it's not portrayed as corrupt and cynical, either. Seagate and Miner both have their strengths, and they listen to each other. Seagate in particular has her own demons haunting her, but it's made her a stronger and better cop, more insightful about both criminals and victims--and those who are both. It's an intriguing mystery, with good characters, and it has a tone which is serious without being cynical.

I very much enjoyed this one. Recommended.

I received a free copy of this audiobook and am reviewing it voluntarily.