Delpha Wade and Tom Phelan Mystery Series, Book 1

Synopsis: 1959. Delpha Wade killed a man who was raping her. Wanted to kill the other one too, but he got away. Now, after fourteen years in prison, she’s out. It’s 1973, and nobody’s rushing to hire a parolee. Persistence and smarts land her a secretarial job with Tom Phelan, an ex-roughneck turned neophyte private eye. Together these two pry into the dark corners of Beaumont, a blue-collar, Cajun-influenced town dominated by Big Oil. A mysterious client plots mayhem against a small petrochemical company-why? Searching for a teenage boy, Phelan uncovers the weird lair of a serial killer. And Delpha — on a weekend outing — looks into the eyes of her rapist, the one who got away. The novel’s conclusion is classic noir, full of surprise, excitement, and karmic justice. Sandlin’s elegant prose, twisting through the dark thickets of human passion, allows Delpha to open her heart again to friendship, compassion, and sexuality.

Review: I didn’t know the novel or the author, but I was immediately intrigued by the synopsis when I discovered it and I must say that I had a great time!

Delpha has just spent 14 years in prison and is just getting out. It’s not easy, but on top of that no one seems to want to employ an ex-con. So when a helping hand gets her a job as an assistant to a private investigator, she is relieved. This job will allow her to finally settle down and earn some money to realize her dreams (even if she doesn’t know yet what she wants to do exactly).

She will find herself embroiled in her boss’s missions, even finding herself at the center of some of them at times, and I found that the author managed to tie everything together with ease. I was quite impressed!

Now I can’t wait to find out how our two heroes will fare!