The Deadly Samaritan by Michael Geczi

The scissors were inserted in the armpits with skill. Keeping the bodies on the brink of death but not there yet. This is the scenario facing Detective Kaminsky. An attack, no robbery, and the motive unclear. Unfortunately for Kaminsky, this would not be the only attack, but the only one he would be alive to start investigating.

 

Drew McLogan was on his way to see Kaminsky after being asked for some help with the case. But McLogan didn’t make it in time. However, Kaminsky was insistent that this was an unusual one, and spurred on by his previous profession in the press and the personal demons he is working through, McLogan throws himself into doing what he can.

 

But what should be a straightforward investigation is constantly interfered with by politics and religion and the idea that a person is more important than the process. McLogan has his work cut out with so much against him.

 

So perhaps he should begin with the mysterious letters E and R left at the scene…

 

The premise had me intrigued and I was keen to find out the why, who, and how. But the tale turned out to be the backstories behind it and the characters, and why they do the things they do. The book deals with not only the murder itself, but a lot of personal issues like grief, working through abuse, and guilt. These gave the book an extra dimension but also detracted from the main case itself. By this I mean that there was a big side story going on with one of the victims and a lot of time was spent on this while almost nothing was spent on another victim.

 

If you were concentrating, you could figure out the murderer before the end by one action that is odd and I found that detracted as I was now just waiting for the confirmation at the end. And the one thing that was never explained was how the killer knew how to insert the scissors to keep the victim on the verge of death. I didn’t find the final confrontation plausible for the story either.

 

Happily, the style of writing flowed well, making it easy to read, with only a few small proofing errors.

 

While there was nothing wrong with the story, I felt too many tangents took control. Still an enjoyable read, however…

 

Thanks to Reedsy Discovery for the opportunity to review the book.