Good, the Bad and the Murderous, The

 Author's Summary

Medicare fraud, drug trafficking, a hired killer, a crooked cop, it's a nightmare scenario PI Sid Chance finds himself in when he takes a tough assignment-prove a young man just out of prison for murder when he was twelve did not commit a new homicide. Everything is thrown upside down when Jaz LeMieux, the wealthy ex-cop working with him on the case, finds herself accused of a despicable crime, and the evidence is damning. When a hit man comes after Sid, all hell breaks loose.

MWSA Review

Winter 2011 Reading List

Chester D. Campbell’s second Sid Chance mystery, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE MURDEROUS is an enjoyable mystery that finds Special Forces-turned-park ranger-turned-private investigator Sid Chance embroiled in two murders that on the surface are not connected at all.  But when a hired killer comes after Chance just when it seems he is about to prove that they are, Sid and his longtime friend Jaz LeMieux are going to be lucky to come out with their reputations and their necks intact!

This book had a unique plot with enough surprises to keep the reader engaged and off balance.  Sid and Jaz are easy to like, and the bad guys are easy to NOT like, making for a natural “good vs. evil” flow to the book.  There are crooked cops, hired killers, and Mexican drug cartels to keep the action moving.  I particularly liked how the author established early on how the hero Sid Chance had morals and character developed over years of community service, first as Special Forces soldier in Vietnam, then as a police officer and park ranger.  Not your average PI, Chance’s character is key to his decision to take on a case that seems clearly open and shut when a recently released young man is accused of another murder.

Police mystery fans will enjoy this book, as will veterans looking for something outside the military genre that features a veteran as the hero.

Reviewed by: Rob Ballister (November 2011)