One Good Deed is the first in David Balcacci’s Aloysius Archer mystery novel series. One Good Deed is a solid mystery.
It is 1949 and Archer has just been paroled. He must spend time his parole in a dry, dusty town called Poca City. Soon after he is in town he gets hired by local bigwig Hank Pittleman to recover monies owed by dust farmer Tuttle. Tuttle who won’t pay in part because his wayward daughter is Pittleman’s mistress.
Pittleman gets killed and the suspect is Archer. Fortunately for him, an honest police detective named Shaw not only believes he is innocent but takes him under his wing and ever lets him be consultant on the case (yes, that one is hard to swallow but mystery fiction is mystery fiction).
Bodies start piling up, Archer’s pretty parole officer and Jackie Tuttle go missing along with a fortune in cash and gold. Archer finds himself accused of Tuttle’s murder and decides to defend himself in court.
Archer having told Shaw he might be interested in becoming a private detective, one can only hope he has learned quickly and enough to save himself from the noose.
David Baldacci, best known for the Camel Club series, is a very good writer and this is a solid mystery. Just make sure you have a good dose of willing suspension of disbelief.
One Good Deed
An Archer mystery
David Baldacci
Grand Central Publishing (2019)
438 pages
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