(reviewed by Ann Onymous )
Two types of Maple wood? Who knew? I figured maple is ‘quilted’ or ‘flamed’ and used to make fine musical instruments, guitars or violins: think pieces of a Stratocaster, Les Paul or Stradivarius.
But ‘quilted’ wood is being poached in the Pacific Northwest. There’s lots of money to be made poaching wood and selling illegal drugs in this novel.
Second in the series, I had no problem starting this one without reading his first.
The new Chief of Police, Brandon Mattson, is a solitary man, an ‘outsider’ who returns to his childhood hometown, newly divorced, the single father of a teenage daughter. He is also the adult son of a maturing father. Brandon is obsessed with the unsolved murder of his brother, also a police officer in the small town of Forks, Washington. He is pressured by his father to solve the crime and find the guilty party at any cost. But the detectives assigned to investigate seem to have dropped it entirely and Brandon is warned off the case by his boss. He is pulled and torn in different directions by his busy life in a quiet town, and trying to date the coroner only adds to his over-loaded schedule. When a new murder is suddenly committed within his jurisdiction, he asks for help from his female colleague, a detective with previous experience in homicides.
I enjoyed Brother’s Keeper because it was a comfortable read, easy to follow the story and I kept turning the pages. A few plot twists caught me by surprise. All the family connections and links that unite a small community make for a more complicated approach to solving crimes. Brandon is faced with the ethical dilemmas that come from living in the same space as the folks he’s pursuing. Several characters are motivated by the uniting theme of vengeance. Is this what pushes Brandon forward?
Here’s the opportunity to get lost and enjoy the fresh air, smell the trees, listen to the forest and see which path Brandon will choose.
