Holland Taylor, a very likable protagonist, carries the story along. Housewright uses the plot to carry forward the important environmental issues of fracking and he does it in a way that includes polemic, from various quarters of the debate without letting it get in the momentum of the storyline. ( )

The great thing about series mysteries is getting to know your character over time and seeing them change and grow, or in the case of Darkness, Sing Me a Song by David Housewright, getting reacquainted after an almost twenty-year absence. St. Paul detective Holland Taylor is back, this time working to prove an appalling, repugnant client is not guilty of murdering her son’s fiancée. Minnesota nice she ain’t.

The murdered Emily seems too good to be true, with co-workers and neighbors who adore her. The evidence against his client is damning, too, as there is a rock-solid eyewitness with no reason to lie. But, there is one reason to suspect the awful Eleanor Barrington might be innocent. Emily Denys did not exist before she came to St. Paul and she clearly was not who she claimed to be. Could her murder be rooted in the secrets of her past?

Following the faintest of trails to Wisconsin, Taylor goes to a community torn apart by the new oil sands industry, environmentalists, pro-industrialists, and militia members are shouting each other down in the deeply partisan Wisconsin riven by Scott Walker’s rightwing revolution.

I thoroughly enjoyed Darkness, Sing Me a Song and want to go back to the beginning of the series. It’s been so long, they will seem fresh again. I lived in St. Paul many years ago and recognize the authenticity with which he creates the city. The story is contemporary, involving issues that are salient today, but the mores and motives are timeless.

As a mystery, it is fair. The clues are there and Taylor does what he is hired to do. Taylor may occasionally cross the line, but not by his own standard of ethics. It’s been a long time, but this fourth Holland Taylor book is completely satisfying.

I received an e-galley of Darkness, Sing Me a Song from the publisher through NetGalley. It will be released on January 2nd, 2018.

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/12/26/9781250094483/ ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Eleanor Barrington has employed Holland, a PI, to look into the background of Emily, the woman her son Joel is involved with. Holland discovers that "Emily" is a persona which has only existed for the last 13 months. Then Emily is murdered and a reliable eye witness claims the shooter was Eleanor. Holland is employed by Eleanor's lawyer to undermine the case against her. Then links are discovered between Emily's death and that of the mayor of a small town where US Sand is developing fracking operations.

This was a fast-moving, fairly light crime story. Holland is a likeable character with useful martial arts skills and a partner who doesn't let him get away with anything. This is apparently the fourth novel in a series and there was a certain amount of Holland's back story to catch up on, but it held up pretty well as a stand alone story. Once the plot had moved to Arona, there was quite a bewildering array of characters to keep on top of, but the plot was coherent over all and the conclusion fairly satisfactory

SPOILER

given that the perpetrator's mother and brother had been engaged in an incestuous relationship for six years. ( )