MORGAN'S LANDING

A detective bungles a missing-person case in Griffin’s crime novella.

It’s 2024, and Morgan’s Landing is a small New England town with closeknit families, well-behaved teenagers, and law-abiding adults. One morning, Julie Morgan, the daughter of a prominent local family, leaves for school but never arrives at her destination. Police Det. Jim Brady delves into why Julie disappeared and who might be responsible. Unreliable witnesses direct him to two suspects: Bear Wayans, a fired school janitor who had been seen loitering outside the school the day before Julie’s disappearance, and Raymond Ochner, a registered sex offender and pedophile. Before long, however, Jim set his sights on another possibility: the young, handsome David Hartwell, one of Julie’s teachers featured in her diary. Despite Jim’s best efforts, though, he can’t solve the case, and soon his wife, suffering from postpartum depression, accuses their teenage son, Colin, of the crime—an awkward situation that may give Jim the key to solving the mystery. Griffin’s tale is competently plotted, with a wide variety of characters. However, fans of procedurals will take exception to the glaring inaccuracies concerning police procedure; for example, it takes too long for the police department to send out an Amber Alert, and Jim handcuffs Mr. Hartwell, without provocation, just to bring him in for questioning. Interjections from a major character’s perspective throughout the text are distracting, and the fact that Hartwell sports a classic 1970s style seems out of place in a story set in the 2020s. Also, Jim’s reasoning is often unclear, leaving readers to wonder if he’s a terrible detective or just an underdeveloped character.

A tale of a kidnapping investigation whose awkward execution may leave mystery fans cold.