Review: "Played To Death: A Scott Drayco Mystery" by BV Lawson

Crime consultant Scott Drayco is in Cape Unity this Monday morning in mid-march to meet a client at the old Opera House. A building that has not been used in years and one that Scott Drayco now owns. It wasn’t something he expected, but he inherited it thanks to the fact that the recently deceased Horatio Rockingham assigned it to him by way of his will.

Sine he had to come look at the place anyway he had arranged with his potential client, Oakley Keys, to meet him at the Opera House at 7 in the morning. Keyes never got into specifics, but he definitely had wanted to meet and hire Drayco. That meeting isn’t going to happen as the man is very much dead on the stage in the old opera house. While the bullet to the head probably killed him the meaning of the carving on the chest of Oakley Key is far harder to determine.  He has been dead for hours and probably was already dead when Drayco climbed into his Oldsmobile Starfire and headed out of Washington, DC.

The plan had been for a quick sale of the Opera House followed by a much needed vacation. Not only is Drayco haunted by the nightmare of his last case, he suffers daily from Chromesthesia. He hears sounds and his brain translates that to colors, shapes, and textures. While it does not debilitate him, that ability along with his deep love of music, allows him to see investigations in a different way than most. Fortunately, the local sheriff is willing to indulge him and welcomes his assistance in a case where there are almost as many motives as suspects.  

First in the Scott Drayco mystery series, Played To Death by BV Lawson is very good. Filled with complex characters, multiple motives and agendas, and a lot of small details that build the atmosphere, this cozy style story works the suspense angle while Drayco tries to figure out what happened. That isn’t easy and the problem does not get simpler when the body of a second victim is found. Plenty of twists and turns as the case goes along makes figuring out who did it as well as why in Played To Death quite the challenge. 

 

Played To Death: A Scott Drayco Mystery

BV Lawson

http://www.bvlawson.com/

Crimetime Press

http://www.crimetimepress.com/

July 2014

ISBN-13: 978-0990458227

E-Book (also available in hardcover and paperback)

312 Pages

$3.99 (Free at this time)

Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015