The Bramble and the Rose by Tom Bouman

The Bramble and the Rose by Tom Bouman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Quarantined at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I read this in about two days. It was a fine way to pass the time. As soon as I finished it, I started reading the first book in the series, which will give you an idea of how much I liked this one.

When it comes to crime and detective fiction, having run through the classic crime writers (Hammett, Chandler) and plenty of mediocre ones, I've become picky about what I'll read. I'm not particularly interested in procedurals or trying to figure out who committed the crime. I'm looking for realistic (and flawed) characters, and local color on areas that interest me. I like the Henry Farrell character because he's an underdog, the only police officer in a tiny township in rural Pennsylvania. Farrell has to act alone against vicious backwoods characters when help is far away. When help does arrive, in the form of the Pennsylvania State Police and an investigator from the Attorney General's office, suspicion falls on Farrell himself and things get very sticky.

N.B.  I am not sure why the title is "The Bramble and the Rose." Fortunately, I bought this book in digital format. I'll use the awesome power of the Kindle to search for "bramble" and "rose" to untangle this mystery.

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