Rick Riordan Mission Road

Mission Road

Rick Riordan

Bantam, Jul 2005, $24.00, 416 pp.

ISBN: 0553801856

Former criminal Ralph Arguello asks his childhood friend private detective Tres Navarre for help. Apparently, the San Antonio Police Department believe he shot his wife detective Ana Deleon to prevent her from accusing him of killing Franklin White, a crime boss' son, eighteen years ago. Tres believes Ralph who insists he did not kill White or shoot his spouse, because he knows his pal would not shoot the woman he would die for.

While Ana lies comatose and the cops hunt for Ralph, he and Tres begin making inquiries into the White cold case. Tres assumes that Ana had figured out who clubbed the serial killing White to death. That person set up Ralph to take the fall for both crimes especially the present one. Tres knows he must uncover the real culprit before the police catch both of them and throw away the key he as an accessory to Ralph's attempted murder.

In his sixth appearance Tres remains competent and loyal as he works a cold case investigation while eluding a dragnet to arrest his friend for attempted murder and he for an accessory to the crime. The case is intriguing especially the flashbacks to what happened to White, an individual who readers will believe deserved to die and justice was served when he did, but the law sees that differently. Though not quite at the multiple-award winning level of SOUTHTOWN due to several "conveniences" that force Tres and Ralph on the lam. MISSION ROAD is a strong entry that fans will enjoy as the hero must serendipitously investigate two crimes almost two decades apart.

Harriet Klausner