by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 45
First published 2017
Connie Kelly thought she had struck gold when she met M. Brooks Welles on a dating site. Silver-haired and charming, he claimed CIA experience and appeared regularly on cable news shows discussing world affairs. She trusted him enough to write a check for nearly three hundred thousand dollars. Then Welles vanished with her money. Her therapist Dr. Susan Silverman connects her with Boston private investigator Spenser. Spenser quickly learns that everything about Welles is fabricated. His name, military credentials, and expert status are all lies. The con man has left behind furious investors, deceived police officers, and vengeful paramilitary contractors who want him dead. Spenser must locate Welles and recover Connie's money while keeping the grifter alive long enough to make things right. The investigation takes Spenser and his partner Hawk from Boston streets to rural Georgia backroads. They team up with ally Teddy Sapp to corner a master manipulator whose web of deception has finally caught up with him.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Boston, Georgia
320 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons