Death at Fort Devens

An author I haven't read before. This is the third book in the series, featuring private investigator Andy Roark. Set in the mid 80s in Boston, Mass. USA.
Andy had been in the Army - special forces. He served in Vietnam. He then joined the police force in Boston, before deciding he wanted to be his own boss. He is a loner, unmarried with a few failed relationships.
Andy gets a phone call from an old friend Dave Billings who is now lieutenant colonel at the Fort Devens Army special forces unit. His wife is not around and his teenage daughter Judy is missing. Billings wants Andy to find her and bring her home.
Andy has a few leads to follow and soon realises she might be in the Boston "Combat Zone" - sex, drugs, violence and misery. The problem for Andy is Dave saved his life in Vietnam and he owes him.
This book took me into a world that I know little about - the Army. The author has a great deal of knowledge of this world. It is very informative and exciting and violent.
A good story that keeps your interest. I will definitely read the previous books by this author. Recommended.

Andy Roark is a very interesting characters and I think he' makes this book a very entertaining and gripping read.
The book is well written and compelling, the classic plot is well developed and the mystery solid.
I liked the descriptions, the characters, and the storytelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Death at Fort Devens is the third Andy Roark PI mystery by Peter Colt. Released 7th June 2022 by Severn House, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. Paperback due out in 1st quarter 2023. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written PI crime investigation in a largely military setting. The titular series protagonist is a tough and unapologetic lone wolf. He has a long and involved back-story (which the author provides in an unflinching manner) and has been involved in conflict in one capacity or another for decades.

The mystery plotting and characterizations are well done and the writing is superb. The dialogue is gritty and rough-around-the-edges. It oozes testosterone and it's clear this is 100% intentional on the author's part. I found myself wishing for a little more softness, a little more light humor, but it wasn't forthcoming. Although it's not at all derivative, there are flashes of Parker's Spenser and Connelly's Bosch, but without the wry humor of those two.

The mystery is well constructed and the conflict, resolution, and denouement are satisfying, if dark. The bad guys are *bad*, and the good guys don't get off without costs. I was disenchanted by the casual sexism and racism throughout; although it's not glorified or used gratuitously. There is a fair amount of graphic violence in the story which seems to be realistic, including descriptions of wartime injuries along with liberal use of rugged language. The protagonist is a Vietnam vet and the story includes historical actions during and after that time period. The military history and locations seem to be well written and correct from a geographical, political, and historical basis. The book is full of military descriptions and background info on life on a military base and the organizational structure of the US armed services.

The classic advice to authors is "Write what you know". It's abundantly clear that this author has done precisely that. He's writes well about his life experience and if his protagonist is fictionalized, he certainly lives and breathes through the author's experiences.

Four stars. Recommended for fans of PI lone-wolf military mysteries. Probably higher for fans of testosterone fueled procedurals.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Is a good old-fashioned private-eye yarn that features a wise-cracking and tough as a yellow toenail . . . hard-drinking, hard-fisted, and hard-living—as well as a hard-up—ex-Boston cop and former Green Beret named Andy Roark . . . a character who kicks ass and takes names until he gets it all figured out.

In this third installment of his adventures, it’s the mid 1980s, and Roark is headed to the Special Forces Unit at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in response to the request of Lt. Colonel David Billings, his squad leader in Vietnam, and the man who saved Roark from being killed in an NVA ambush, deep in the Laotian jungle. The Colonel’s seventeen year-old daughter, Judy, has gone missing. He wants Roark to find her, and the problem ridden, depressed private-eye is eager to bring the girl back—hoping to repay some of his karmic debt to Billings for saving his life. The Colonel is in line for a promotion, possibly even a General’s star, and complications, such as a troubled teen, are out of the question if he is to succeed. Roark finds that Judy has been dating an enlisted man, but when questioned, the young Specialist tells him they’ve broken up. It appears that the Colonel’s daughter is now involved with a Boston criminal, a drug-dealing thug . . . who may have hooked her on heroin. Roark then goes to Boston’s worst criminal district, known as the Combat Zone, where he leaves a path of blood, broken bones and terror in his wake, because he has untreated PTSD issues from his time in Vietnam. This novel is fast and compelling, as well as an exciting read that’s perfect for those long lazy summer afternoons, all leading to an electrifying conclusion that you’ll never see coming . . . it’s action-packed to the end!