Black Diamond

August 8, 2011
Dobbyn’s pleasant if lightweight third thriller featuring attorney Michael Knight (after Frame-Up) zips back and forth between Boston and Dublin. When a friend of Knight’s, jockey Danny Ryan, takes a fatal spill during a race at Suffolk Downs, Knight and his crafty mentor, Lex Devlin, wind up involved in a case of horse race fixing and international gang warfare. The local Irish mob is bad enough, but a remnant of the brutal, hardcore Irish Republican Army now wants to expand into the States. The IRA thugs have had decades of experience in kidnapping, torture, and murder, and they’re willing to corrupt or kill anyone in their way. Fortunately, Knight has a sharp wit and a gift of gab that he uses to exploit the enmity between and within the rival gangs. The book’s tension may suffer from Knight’s gift, for it’s difficult to believe that anything terrible could happen to a clever lad flashing so much good old Irish blarney.

October 1, 2011
When they were kids, Michael Knight and Danny Ryan exercised horses at Suffolk Downs. But Michael grew up, while Danny stayed jockey-size and became a very accomplished rider. In what at first seemed a tragic accident, Danny dies after being thrown from his mount, Black Diamond, during a race. Despite unconvincing video evidence, fellow jockey Hector Vazquez is charged with murder. Knight's law firm takes the case, and just as Michael begins investigating, Danny's young daughter is kidnapped. The trail leads from Boston's Irish mob to Ireland, where Michael learns that former IRA terrorists plan to set up shop in Boston, helping to fund the move by fixing horse races. The second Knight mystery is a keeper that may remind readers of the late William G. Tapply's Brady Coyne novels. That's because of the Boston setting; a self-effacing hero with more nerve than muscle; carefully drawn, three-dimensional secondary characters; and the way the seemingly simple plot mushrooms into full-blown chaos. A very entertaining entry in what one hopes will be a long-running series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)