Small Town Mystery Lands a Big Punch

The Holdfast

By Christopher Mirabile

Review by Anneka Lowrie

★★★★★

I love reading a good mystery series. Writing one means developing a strong protagonist and creating crimes that belong to the setting—in other words, evocative storytelling that brings readers back for more, one mystery at a time.

Christopher Mirabile does just that with Silas Lopez, the newly appointed police chief of Provincetown, Massachusetts, a close-knit community whose cultural diversity is as distinctive as its New England traditions.

Silas is a cowboy-turned-lawman with decidedly Western ways, now working in a town that takes pride in its stalwart New England character and wildly eclectic population. From Portuguese fishermen and Cape Cod curmudgeons to Jamaican craftsmen and a richly diverse LGBTQ community, Lopez juggles them all with an assured understanding of the community he is trying to serve.

The Holdfast takes place after the tourists have left for the season and a long-time, much-loved resident is dead. At first, Constance Blanchard's death appears natural, but the autopsy reveals otherwise. Silas approaches the investigation with his usual pragmatic methods, butting heads with town offices, officials, and residents alike.

Silas understands the criminal mind and isn't reluctant to meet it head-on. It is personal relationships that give him pause. His burgeoning romance with Wren Bradford, a local social worker whose family history reaches back to the earliest days of New England, is complicated by missteps, self-doubt, and his struggle to trust his emotions.

Wren is a forthright New England woman with ideas of her own and the instinct to act on them. She is a perfect foil for Silas's persistence in getting to the heart of a crime: motive, opportunity, and evidence. Where he is tough, she is compassionate. When she is opinionated, he is unabashedly persuasive.

The bottom line? It works. Magnificently.

Readers who enjoy small-town secrets exposed through skillful police work, along with characters who feel as though you might actually know them, will find the Silas Lopez Seaside Mystery Series engaging, provocative, and occasionally startling.

Bring on the chili—and cranberries.

Get your copy now on Amazon