The quiet of Longboat Key, Florida, is shattered when an old man is shot to death and his murderer is killed while fleeing the police. Strange documents in German and Arabic are found in the killer's car then an old friend of the murdered man disappears. The island's only detective, Jennifer Diane (J.D.) Duncan receives a text message with a picture taken that morning of a college friend whom she thought was dead. Matt Royal and J.D. are pursued by men who would do them harm, and Matt's best friend, Jock Algren, a shadowy operative of the U.S. government's most secretive intelligence agency comes to visit the island. As the mystery deepens, a ragtag group of devious and dangerous characters intrudes on the lives of the islanders, creating a kind of havoc unusual for a sun-splashed island full of retirees and beach bums. Matt, J.D., and Jock rush to find the answer to why one old man was killed and another disappeared, the meaning of the photo sent to J.D. of her almost surely dead college friend, and why somebody is trying to kill them.**

When a serial killer shows up on Longboat Key, Florida after a twelve year absence, Matt Royal is stymied. The first woman killed on Longboat Key has ties to a secretive government agency for which Matts best friend Jock Algren works. Was this a coincidence or was she a targeted kill? Matts friend, Longboat Key detective Jennifer Diane (J.D.) Duncan investigates the murders but also seems to be a target of the killer. Why? And where has the killer been for the past twelve years? And why has he come to Longboat Key when his earlier kills were all in Miami? The mystery deepens when Guatemalan gang-bangers try to kill Matt and J.D. and suspicions grow that Mexican drug cartels are somehow involved. The director of Jocks agency orders him to do whatever is necessary to find the killer because of the death of the woman with connections to the agency. Will Jock simply take out the murderer or allow J.D. and the law to arrest, try and convict the bad guys? Matts life is further complicated by J.D.s growing dissatisfaction with island living and her thoughts of returning to Miami.

The quiet beauty of Longboat Key is shattered when a young groom is shot to death on the beach the day after his wedding. His father is an old army buddy of Matt Royal, and Matt tries to soften the anguish of his friend by finding his son's murderer. Matt's search takes on added complexity when there appears to be a link between this murder and three seemingly unrelated murders that occurred on board a dinner cruise on Sarasota Bay the same day. Fortunately for Matt, his old buddies, Logan Hamilton and Jock Algren, show up to cover his back and to help investigate. But this case rekindles haunting events of Matt's past and incites a web of doubt, deception, and even suspicion, among the closest of friends. When Longboat Key detective, Jennifer Diane (J.B.) Duncan joins the investigation, Matt loses a little focus as he drifts toward more than just a professional relationship. But this distraction could cost lives when they encounter a shady and very dangerous cabal .

Premier adult community with everything you could possibly want, need, or dream of doing in your retirement years is just a golf cart ride away—now the scene of a murder In this John Grisham style mystery, Matt Royal, the retired lawyer-turned-beach-bum is called back into the courtroom to defend his girlfriend J. D. Duncan's Aunt Esther, who lives in the sprawling North Central Florida retirement community of The Villages. A best-selling author has been murdered after a book signing, and Aunt Esther has been arrested. Matt has a history with the local sheriff—one which may not bode well for his client. Matt reluctantly suits up for the courtroom, and J.D. takes a leave from the police department to go undercover. A bizarre specter from the past haunts their investigation every step of the way. As they delve further into the case, the pieces of the puzzle refuse to fall into any kind of coherent pattern. Jock Algren arrives with his special...

A RIVETING MYSTERY SET IN THE SIZZLING HEAT OF A FLORIDA SUMMER When his girlfriend’s body is discovered on the balcony of his condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, Logan Hamilton is indicted for murder. His friend Matthew Royal, a burned out trial lawyer living in an island paradise in Florida, reluctantly comes out of early retirement to represent Logan. The tale twists and turns as Matt travels to Iowa, Chicago and South Florida, trying to save Logan from the death penalty pursued by a hard nosed female prosecutor who never loses. The secrets revealed in the climatic trial stun the people of the island and reverberate around the world. It’s a great ride, from the pristine beaches of Longboat and Egmont Keys to the cities of South Florida and the Mid-West. The author spins a tale of mystery and intrigue, peopled with characters you won’t soon forget.

### From Publishers Weekly Set in Longboat Key, Fla., Griffin's third mystery to feature semiretired lawyer Matt Royal (after 2006's *Murder Key*) proves bad things can happen in beautiful places. Matt, who's traded suits for shorts, now does mostly pro bono investigative work. When his ex-wife, Laura, shows up, needing help in locating her stepdaughter, Peggy, who went missing in Sarasota while on spring break, Matt dives into a puzzle with a quickly rising body count. Matt becomes really worried after Laura goes missing. Is her disappearance linked to Peggy's? The suspense rises as the trail leads to Key West and the Heaven Can't Wait Spa, where Matt uncovers a connection to Rev. Robert William Simmermon, a crazy preacher with a hidden agenda headquartered on nearby Blood Island. Griffin's breezy first-person narration brings the likable Matt, with his killer reflexes and wry sense of humor, vividly to life. *(Dec.)* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### From Booklist The gold standard in Florida crime fiction was established by John D. MacDonald with his color-coded Travis McGee series back in the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, it’s often been said—and meant as a high compliment—that Randy Wayne White’s Doc Ford was the closest successor to McGee. Well, move over Doc because H. Terrell Griffin’s Matt Royal may be cut in even more of the McGee mold. Royal is a former Green Beret and former lawyer living in Sarasota (where McDonald resided), though this adventure, which involves finding his ex-wife’s missing stepdaughter, takes place on Blood Island in the Florida Keys (where McGee occasionally moored his houseboat). Royal displays the mixture of street smarts, physical prowess, and hypersensitivity that made McGee a paperback icon. Some of MacDonald’s less admirable features, such as amazingly lethal old friends who pop up when the plot requires their presence, also find their way into Blood Island; but even so, this is a thoroughly entertaining, old-school Florida mystery novel that fans of the region and the genre will love. --Steve Glassman

DEATH LURKS ON AN ISLAND BASKING N THE GENTLE SUNSHINE OF A FLORIDA AUTUMN. When a stranger tries to kill Matt Royal in one of his favorite watering holes on his Florida island paradise, his attention focuses on more than sun, fishing, and beer. Matt doesn't know why anyone would want to kill him, and the only way to stay alive is to find out who and why. Matt and his buddies, Logan Hamilton and Jock Algren, begin an odyssey that takes them from the island beaches to Mexico, and back to the mines, labor camps and farms of the interior of Florida, a place tourists never go. They find themselves ensnared in a tangle of illegal immigrants and imported drugs, while death stalks from every point of the compass. The mystery flows and tingles in the beautiful Florida autumn, the ugliness of the phosphate mines and migrant labor camps juxtaposed against the pristine beaches and extravagant lifestyles of the island Matt calls home.