Ninth Commandment: Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness, The

 Author's Summary

Joe Tofuri is a licensed Massachusetts private detective. He embarks on a bevy of intertwining cases during the Christmas season of 1995. First, he is retained by a wealthy businessman to find and retrieve his young son who was kidnapped by a drug dealer. The “search for the truth” comes to bear in two other cases involving domestic abuse, assault & battery, and the horrible vehicular homicide of a young boy. In the midst of these investigations, Joe takes on another case involving the search for a stolen mysterious briefcase taken by a "Biker" gang. Entering the dark and dangerous biker world, he uncovers an unlikely clue that leads him to a potential eyewitness in the vehicular homicide case. And through it all, Joe must fight the most dangerous entities of them all... his own inner demons.

MWSA Review

MWSA 2006 Bronze Medal for Fiction, Mystery

The Best Detective Novel I Have Read in the Last 10 Years! There is something very entertaining and fun about reading a good mystery book, or in this case, a real detective book, it was simply a pleasure. Although there is a disclaimer at the front of the book saying almost everything inside is fictional except for the detective and his family and some friends – it reads like non-fiction and you believe everything that happens. The Ninth Commandment – Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness is not your father’s detective novel – nope, this is a whole new genre of detective against the bad guys book. It paints us a whole new look at what it may really be like in the real world.

Author Joe “Tuffy” Tofuri delivers the goods with his story. The book actually follows Joe along as he works on several cases at the same time. He intertwines them skillfully and mixes in lots of action. I begin to root for this guy as he used brains, guns, common sense and even a big biker to get to the truth with his investigations. The personality of the detective is not like your old Sam Spade types at all. This is a hard working man with some flaws. Nope, our hero is not perfect but he is definitely a man’s man kind of investigator.

Tofuri points out some of the social ills and problems in today’s legal system as he leads us along with a great story. His take on how women misuse restraining orders and how people lie had me rethinking things should I ever be on a jury some day. He makes you a believer in what happened in his book. I think that is one of the reasons the book reads so well – it is all so plausible. The author gives you his years of experience as an investigator and not only entertains you but educates you as well.

I loved the book. I like the lead character and the plot. I enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it to all those who love detective and mystery novels. You will not be disappointed!

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2006)