Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Unspoken: An Ashe Cayne Novel by Ian K. Smith

Harvard graduate Dr. Ian K. Smith has published several books and articles on diet and fitness. His crime fiction novel The Blackbird Papers won the 2005 BCALA fiction Honor Book Award. His first book about Ashe Cayne, a former Chicago police officer and now private investigator, is The Unspoken (Thomas & Mercer, 2020). This new series highlights Smith’s affection for the city of Chicago, politics and all. It’s also a foodie tour, as Cayne and his friends eat out often and their meals are described in glorious detail.

Violet Gerrigan, wife of Randolph Gerrigan, the Chicago real estate mogul, wants Cayne to find their daughter Tinsley. Tinsley left home to visit her BFF but never arrived and no one has seen or heard from her since. The police sent her to Cayne, as Tinsley is 25 years old and, in absence of evidence to the contrary, they have no reason to believe that she did not leave on her own.

Cayne would rather use the few remaining warmish days of the fall to perfect his golf swing, but the Gerrigans are wealthy and influential so it’s in his best interests to help them out. It does not take him long to learn that blonde blue-eyed Tinsley’s serious boyfriend Tariq was a black honors graduate of DePaul University and the nephew of Ice Culpeper, the leader of one of Chicago’s worst gangs. A few days after Cayne’s meeting with Tariq, Tariq is found shot dead in a rundown section of Chicago. Cayne is stunned. He expected to learn that Tinsley was dead, not her boyfriend. The police now have a reason to enter the case and Cayne finds himself working with his former mentor on the force.

The ramifications of angering politically connected and potentially corrupt individuals is never far from Cayne’s mind and makes him acutely conscious of his actions. His sidekick and bodyguard Mechanic is great. Even the minor characters are wonderful, including Cayne’s father who wanted him to become a tennis star and the minister of the small church with security cameras in the right place to help identify the culprit.

This is a fine contemporary private investigator story. However I found a subplot in which Cayne seeks justice for the victims of a pedophile priest unsettling. It’s unnecessary and I don’t see what it does to further the story or characterization. Considering its Stephen King overtones, I am somewhat surprised that an editor did not strike it as superfluous. Otherwise an excellent read. Especially recommended for fans of Chicago crime fiction and private investigator series.

 

·         Publisher: ‎ Thomas & Mercer (October 1, 2020)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Hardcover: ‎ 300 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1542025273

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1542025270

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.