The Dead Beat Scroll

This book was entertaining with a creative plot and quickly moving story line. I was thinking that I wish I had read all the other books in this series before the current one. However, even though I know how things end up for one person, I can still enjoy the journeys that brought the characters to this point in their lives, or deaths by starting at beginning.

Thank you NetGalley and Mark Coggins for the early read!

A good read, written in the Raymond Chandler style of American gumshoes but so much better than that. Rapid action set in SAN Francisco modern day with all the good and bad bits of modern life. Really enjoyed it and now need to look for others in the series, book leaves you wanting more.GREAT READ

Fun! That's how I would describe The Dead Beat Scroll. This is my first introduction to private investigator August Riordan, who has just returned to San Francisco to discover the truth about the murder of his former partner and friend, Chris. Chris had taken over August's PI agency and was mostly working on cyber cases, so why had he been found in a sleazy massage parlor? Not exactly the kind of place a gay man like Chris would be hanging out. In his search for the truth, August meets Chris's last client, Angelina, who was searching for her half-sister. The trail leads to a bizarre cast of characters, including a polyamorous family, a Chinese ganglord, a massage worker/manicurist, to name a few. It also leads to a manuscript written in a scroll by Beat writer Jack Kerouac. What more could a reader want? Like I said, fun!!

It's a fast-paced book and a wild ride. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

PI August Riordan returns to San Francisco when his best friend Chris Duckworth has gone missing. Duckworth has taken over Riordan’s PI business, office and even his Post Street apartment. When Ducksworth is found shot dead at a massage parlor, Riordan thinks the motive for his murder lies in one of his recent cases. Duckworth's last client, Angelina Evangelista had hired him to find her half-sister Corinne White. Riordan follows a trail of mutilated bodies left by a murderous polyamorous family obsessed with finding an unknown manuscript from dead Beat writer Jack Kerouac.

But when Angelina is kidnapped, Riordan must come up with a plan to find the missing dead beat scroll to set a trap to save her and avenge his friend.

This was another fun romp through San Francisco with the stubborn old-fashioned PI and his band of friends. The black and white photographs in each chapter are also taken by the author and adds a nice cinematic touch to the story.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and Down and Out Books with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.