Lowcountry Bonfire

Married private investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews have been hired by Tammy Sue Lyerly to find evidence that her husband Zeke has been having an affair with Crystal Chapman. After they give photographs of the elicit couple to Tammy, things go from bad to crazy.

Tammy decides to take Zeke's clothes and put them in his prized possession, a 1969 Raven Black Mustang, and set them on fire. When the fire is out, what they find is shocking. Lowcountry Boil is the latest in the series by Susan Boyer

Once the trunk is popped open, there is Zeke dead, but frozen in a strange position with his back and neck stiffly arched and his legs tucked behind him. Although the fire hadn't reach him, he was dead with a ghastly grin on his face.

Who killed Zeke in such a grisly manner? Zeke was a charmer, telling stories about being an Army Ranger, a prize-winning bull rider and an almost famous NASCAR driver. No one really believed him, but as Liz and Nate look into his death, some of the stories seems more real then the others. 

As Liz and Nate investigate Zeke, they find no information on his life from when he joined the army in 1987 and returned to Stella Maris, South Carolina, in 2007. Could someone from this missing period have killed Zeke? While they pursue this angle, they discover some suspects, more locally involved.

What they find leads to an event in the past that changed many lives and ended Zeke's.

Lowcountry Boil is a carefully constructed mystery with a surprising conclusion. The characters are well written and believable (including Connie, the ghost). As I enjoyed this book, I plan to go back and read some of the others in the series.

For other books by Susan Boyer, click here.