This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship .. that of reader and Buddy Steel. Buddy has moved from LAPD to a small podunk town .... the town where he was raised and where his father still lives. Sheriff Burton Steel has been diagnosed with Lou Gerig's Disease and he has asked his son to come home and prepare to take over when he dies. The only reason Buddy agrees to come back is because he realizes how important family is.

He no sooner is sworn in as Deputy Sheriff than a woman reports that her boss' wife has gone missing. She is fearful of her boss and thinks that maybe he had her killed.

The woman is married to well-known Televangelist. A visit to the woman's home sets off a string of events that lead to murder, corruption, drugs. And then there's the woman that turns Buddy's head.

This is an excellent, well-written crime thriller. It has everything a mystery buff wants ... lots of action with a dead body here and there and characters that aren't easily forgotten. It's a fast paced ride with short staccato-like speech filled with humor or sarcasm, sometimes both. But don't take his attitude too seriously ... he's not a man who will let things go.

I enjoyed the interaction between Buddy and his father. Even though their early years together drove them apart on most issues, it's quite apparent that with age has come some forgiveness and accepting of each other's lives. And if you look close enough, you will see a little bit of mutual pride show through on both sides.

This is one of those books that grabbed me at the very beginning and just didn't let go. I look forward to meeting up with Buddy again soon.

Many thanks to the author / Poisoned Pen Press / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

4.5 Stars

Missing Persons by Michael brandman.
Steel... smart, aggressive, ironic, spare and cynical... has been content working homicide at the LAPD until his father, the legendary Sheriff Burton Steel, falls ill with Lou Gehrig's disease. Sheriff Steel is headquartered in Freedom, a privileged coastal community located a hundred miles north of Los Angeles. His health failing, he asks his son Buddy to come home to cover his back and to groom him to be his successor.Buddy reluctantly agrees. He returns to Freedom despite having outgrown its small town limits, wary of his father's authoritarianism.
This was a fantastic read with brilliant characters. Couldn't put it down. It really had me thinking. 5*. Netgalley and poisoned pen press.

“Missing Persons” by Michael Brandman is set in San Remo County on the Southern California Coast. Burton Steel, Junior, a ranking LAPD homicide detective, returned to his childhood home after his father, Sherriff Burton Steel, Senior became ill. However, all is not well in the idyllic town of Freedom, California, high in the hills above Highway 101. The nanny who is employed by a prominent family is concerned. Catharine Long, the mother of the boy she cares for has disappeared. “I think they killed her.”

The book is a procedure-based first person narrative voiced by Burton Steel, Junior, or Buddy as his dad calls him. We see the people, the action, the dialogue and the interpretation through his eyes. We learn through his narrative that he is a no-nonsense, procedure-driven officer. His conversations match his personality, quick, short, abrupt, and snappy. However, his shallow, superficial attitude cannot disguise his dedication.

In spite of obstacles, he is determined to find out what happened to Mrs. Long. Money, drugs, religion, fraud, and financial impropriety rip apart the quiet town of Freedom, Ca. and nothing will ever be the same. Secrets are revealed, and it seems that everyone has more than one. Along the way, Buddy makes countless enemies and a friend or two.

I received a copy of “Missing Persons” from Poisoned Pen Press, Michael Brandman, and NetGalley. It is very much in the tone of classic “Dragnet,” focused, straightforward, direct, with Steel being the quintessential Joe Friday kind of guy – “Just the facts, mam.” I enjoyed reading it, and highly recommend it. I am anxious to see how Buddy manages his job, his family, and his personal life in the next book.

Buddy Steel is an independent bachelor; aggressive, smart, and has been working homicide at the LAPD, on track for advancement and content with his life. His father, a sheriff in Freedom (a small upscale coastal community north of Los Angeles) discovers his health is going south and asks his son to come home prepared to step into his shoes. Buddy grudgingly agrees, after argument with himself, not happy to return under his father's counsel. He shortly lands in the middle of a missing persons case, the wife of a world-renowned television minister.

I had a little problem identifying with the protagonist. Independent is okay, but he can also be grating, cryptic, and rude. He's a big boy and can push his 6'3" frame around. (I've learned that unless it's a woman, all male protagonists are over 6'.) He's brought that LAPD attitude with him, often offensive, to small coastal town Freedom, California. While there, he is reacquainted with the people he grew up with, as well as the adults who watched him grow and are familiar with his father-son dynamic.

His father has taken on a deputy, Buddy's peer, and groomed him to the office, but will apparently not leave the office to his protégé, opting for his son as he has an ulterior motive for his son returning. Buddy has been brought in, not yet elected, but he likes to correct everyone with the title "Sheriff." Of course, it's difficult to know he's any law enforcement officer as he only wears civvies, but does drive a police cruiser.

Buddy drives back to LA to speak to an estranged female member of the missing person's family and slobbers all over himself with the hots for her almost immediately; apparently she feels the same. So much for the romantic interest.

I would consider this a cozy mystery more than a police procedural. As he gets deeper into the investigation, everything gets thrown into the pot; Ponzi schemes, drugs, cartels, and murder. Nothing is simple--that's the rule.

The missing persons family become the antagonists, characters are fleshed out enough to be obnoxious. I did appreciate the dialogue style, the author assuming you know who is speaking at any given point, foregoing the "he said/she said." And the description of the fictional Pacific coastal town sounded lovely and very inviting. There is some language. The plot moves along from the beginning; doesn't generally lag.

I received this novel from Mr. Brandman, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley and appreciate the opportunity to read and review. Recommend for a fast read of a cozy mystery.

First of all, this book just snaps with tension, starting with the first chapter. Second, the plot is complex and will have readers continually trying to tie all the elements together. It's hard to go back to your hometown when your family has it's own closet of skeletons from that time, but as a devious killer pulls a young detective back, the detective draws from his own well-known detective father's decades of experience. This book has just about everything you want: intrigue, betrayal, forbidden love and dark motives. Lot's of fun, so be sure to read it! Highly recommended.

MISSING PERSONS by Michael Brandman is the first novel he's written since the three books he penned for the Jesse Stone series after the death of Robert B. Parker, and his involvement in the Jesse Stone made-for-TV movies starring Tom Selleck (whom he names as friend and partner in the acknowledgements).

Buddy Steel, son of the legendary sheriff Burton Steel of Freedom in CA., returns at the behest of his father who's been stricken with ALS (aka Lou Gerig’s disease) in the wake of his successful reelection.
Burton puts son Buddy on the spot requesting that he step in as chief deputy and fill his father's shoes.
Reluctantly Buddy agrees and takes leave of his current employment in L.A. law enforcement and immediately becomes embroiled in a missing person case involving a local preacher and his ministry that is well known both nationally and internationally.

Barry Long, “Junior” is the face of the ministry along with his now missing wife Catherine and son “Three” aka Barry Long III. Behind the scenes but very much in control are Barry Long Senior and brother Hickman Long. Buddy immediately becomes suspicious as the family stonewalls his efforts to locate Catherine after a former maid at the mansion of the family fears that she may have been possibly murdered.

Buddy proceeds in an attempt to locate Catherine while digging up information regarding the family and the ministry that sheds some light on the less than spiritual activities of the family, specifically Hickman and “Senior”. Undaunted even in the face of thinly veiled threats and warnings of both the family and local VIP’s including his step mother and Mayor, Regina Goodnow.

“Heart of Our Savior Celebration” is an annual event that funnels huge amounts of cash into the ministry, and is about to take place at the time of Catherine’s mysterious disappearance that doesn't get any clearer regardless of Buddy and the department’s attempts to locate her. Buddy’s communication with father Burton produces results with their combined efforts, and their relationship as father and son is strengthened as a result.

Will Buddy be able to solve the disappearance of Catherine and find the truth regarding the financial and possible criminal activities within the family ministry before the upcoming event, or will his efforts be unsuccessful as the result of political influence and public opinion?

Michael Brandman has written a very enjoyable book, and Buddy as the lead character is cynical enough to piss off almost everyone in the book at one time or another, yet his humor and lack of fear and disrespect for political concerns help to make him effective in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

Hopefully this is the first book in the “Buddy Steel Series” with more to follow.

4 stars.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Buddy Steel, late of the LAPD’s Homicide Division, is back in Freedom. His father is the sheriff there and has just discovered that he has Lou Gerig’s Disease. Failing fast, he asks Buddy to return to Freedom to become his Deputy Sheriff. Reluctantly, Buddy goes along with it.

When a woman enters his office and reports Catharine Long wife of Barry Long, Junior has gone missing. She goes even further to say that she believes Mrs. Long may be dead. The Reverend Long, Junior is a televangelist who is getting ready for a big hoo hah production and reunion of sorts. He, his brother and their bodyguards get very combative when Buddy and two other officers show up at their house. They give him false information about the true whereabouts of Catharine.

As Buddy and his team set about investigating, they run into all sorts of n’er-do-wells, from drug dealers to murderers.

This is a very well written and plotted novel. It grabs the reader from the start and doesn’t let go. I’ve enjoyed Michael Brandman’s other “Jesse Stone” books, and I sure like this new series as well. One can’t help drawing parallels between his Jesse Stone character and Buddy Steel, but that’s more than okay in my book. Bring on the next in the series Mr. Brandman!

I want to thank Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy of Missing Persons the first in a projected series of police procedurals featuring Buddy Steel of the fictional Freedom, California's Sheriff's department.

Buddy has returned to Freedom from a successful career as a homicide detective with LAPD at his ailing father's behest but isn't particularly enjoying it so when Rosalita Gonzalez visits with the tale of a missing woman he is immediately interested. Catharine Long, wife of revivalist preacher Barry Long Junior, has gone missing but no one has reported it. Barry claims she is with his sister but Buddy can't verify this.

I thoroughly enjoyed Missing Persons. It is not a long novel but it has a twisted plot and some good wisecracks so it is entertaining. The plot is maybe not the most realistic I have ever read but it's fun and it flows well.

I first came across Mr Brandman's writing when he continued the late Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series. It's fair to say that Buddy Steel is not dissimilar to the Jesse Stone portrayed in those novels so if you enjoyed them as I did you will enjoy Missing Persons as Buddy has the same attitudes, a wise cracking indifference to both threats and authority, a twisted ability to cause mayhem in his pursuit of justice and a fairly disastrous love life.

Missing Persons is a fun read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

MISSING PERSONS is the first book in the Buddy Steel series, and it is a very good start! I will look forward reading more about Buddy Steel! It is a good mystery with good characterization of the protagonist. The plot was interesting, and I could not put the book down! However, although the plot was well paced, it did lag a bit around the 65% mark. Additionally, there were some unresolved issues. ( Who was the second person on the motorcycle), . I want to thank NetGalley and Poison Pen Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Missing Persons is the first book in the Buddy Steel mystery series written by author Michael Brandman. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advance copy.