In The Unknown Devil, by Tom Fowler, C.T. (Coningsley Trent) Ferguson—a late 20s, up-and-coming, private investigator—says he doesn’t do domestic cases. But is that really true? He hangs up on a woman who wants him to follow her husband, who she thinks is cheating. Then, a few minutes later, he agrees to find the older brother of a 17-year-old young man who shows up at his door.
His case seems straightforward until he gets a visit from a local gangster wanting him to create malware for him, which C.T. declines to do. (C.T. was a computer programmer/geek in a previous life.) Apparently, the teenager for whom C.T. is searching for was originally hired to create the malware. Wouldn’t you know, C.T. gets involved with the gangster’s affairs anyway. It becomes apparent that the teenager was kidnapped by the gangster. Can C.T. get things solved without getting shot up or even killed?
Smart Guy, But Needs Improvement
Tom Fowler’s protagonist is smart and a gourmand. He’s good, for the most part, at his chosen career—and with women. But it seems he has a knack for crossing paths with gangsters. He interacted with gangsters in his first case, too, as described in The Reluctant Detective, the first book in this series. One of the areas where C.T. needs to improve is awareness of his surroundings. People can follow him on a case without his noticing anything. He even admits this.
This novel proceeds at an interesting pace but does slow down a bit through the middle. A tiny bit too much of watching and waiting but little action. The pace then quickens again and culminates in an interesting denouement.
We learn a bit of C.T.’s likes in food and women. And whom he can trust. I think that we’ll learn more about this young, good-looking protagonist in the rest of the series. There are several additional books at this point. I’m hooked and will continue to follow C.T.’s adventures.
The Unknown Devil
by Tom Fowler
© 2018
Widening Gyre Media
Why would a guy with advanced degrees in computer science, and who had been a hacker in Hong Kong, want to be a private investigator after he got out of Chinese prison and came home? And how good would he be in his chosen profession? Such is the premise of The Reluctant Detective by