Peter Pan Must Die (Dave Gurney, No. 4) by John Verdon

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  • Series: A Dave Gurney Novel
  • Hardcover: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Crown (July 1, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385348401
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385348409
In John Verdon’s most sensationally twisty novel yet, ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney brings his analytical brilliance to a shocking murder that couldn’t have been committed the way the police say it was.

 The daunting task that confronts Gurney, once the NYPD’s top homicide cop: determining the guilt or innocence of a woman already convicted of shooting her charismatic politician husband -- who was felled by a rifle bullet to the brain while delivering the eulogy at his own mother’s funeral. 

Peeling back the layers, Gurney quickly finds himself waging a dangerous battle of wits with a thoroughly corrupt investigator, a disturbingly cordial mob boss, a gorgeous young temptress, and a bizarre assassin whose child-like appearance has earned him the nickname Peter Pan.

 Startling twists and turns occur in rapid-fire sequence, and soon Gurney is locked inside one of the darkest cases of his career – one in which multiple murders are merely the deceptive surface under which rests a scaffolding of pure evil.  Beneath the tangle of poisonous lies, Gurney discovers that the truth is more shocking than anyone had imagined.

 And the identity of the villain at the mystery’s center turns out to be the biggest shock of all.

 My Impressions:   I wish I could say that this book was my favorite in the series, but it was probably my least favorite. I really enjoyed the other three books, but this one was a little too cliche and just not as fun and engaging as his other books in this series. The book was too descriptive that it actually began to wear you down after a while, making it very difficult to get through it at a good pace.

Don't get me wrong the book was not all bad. It  was a little dark, so it may not appeal to everyone, but I enjoyed trying to fit the pieces together and solve the mystery before the end. The author did a wonderful job of twisting the plot around so that you were guessing all the way through. If you take out all the very wordy description and cliche characters the rest was a gripping book filled with suspense, intrigue and mystery.

I would give this series 4 1/2 stars, but this particular book only 3. 




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