Friday, November 30, 2018

FFB Review: On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery by Ted Wood

Friday means Friday’s Forgotten Books hosted by Patti Abbott. This week Todd Mason is collecting the links and will have them over on his Sweet Freedom blog. Also, please take the time to think about Patti and her husband, Phil, who is fighting cancer with everything he has. Things have been rougher than normal the last couple of weeks. Say a prayer, light a candle, do whatever works for you, as he needs all the help he can get right now. Science can and does do a hell of a lot, but I also know Sandi was here far longer becuase so many of you said prayers and more on her behalf. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my losing my everything. I am begging you to do whatever works for you for Phil and for Patti. Thank you.

As On The Inside: A Reid Bennet Mystery begins, newly Married Reid Bennett is the mining town of Elliot on an undercover assignment. He should have been away on his honeymoon with Freda. Instead, he is applying to be an officer on the local police force in the hopes that he can substantiate the rumors of police misconduct and corruption. It might have been more than a rumor, but the man who contacted the Provincial Police Commission was dead the day after he called to report the situation.

Whatever he knew and was going to tell investigators died with him. It is possible that the guy might have accidentally died as a result of drunk driving. Considering he had 14 years of sobriety, the crash could have just as easily been murder. Either way, the PPC need the situation evaluated and with the Elliot Police Chief accused by the dead man, they don’t know who else in that department they can trust.

The PPC know what Bennett did in Toronto and what he has been doing in Murphy’s Harbour the last couple of years. He is a good cop and one that can hold his own in physical situations when needed. Thanks to media coverage about what happened in Toronto a few years back and a couple of more recent cases in Murphy’s Harbour, Bennett has ready-made reputation which should work in his favor on the undercover assignment. Good thing Freda is willing to do what needs doing and Sam can go too. It will be a family affair in more ways than one.

On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery is the 7th installment in a very good series that started with Dead In The Water. Published in 1990, the focus is on the mystery of what is going on in Elliot. That mystery focus means, as always, there is plenty of action in this one just like the other books in the series. This book is also a bit more police procedurally as much of the book is Bennett is actually working on shift duty with other officers.

Like the other books in the series, On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery, is a good one. 


On The Inside: A Reid Bennett Mystery
Ted Wood
Charles Scribner’s Sons
1990
ISBN# 0-684-19090-7
Hardback (also available in paperback and digital formats)
280 Pages



Material supplied by way of an Interlibrary Loan filled by the staff of the Tom Green County Library in San Angelo, Texas, and sent to the good folks of the Dallas Public Library. My sincere and appreciative thanks to all involved.



Kevin R. Tipple ©2018

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