Gone Astray by Terry Korth Fischer

Gone Astray by Terry Korth Fischer
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

A heart attack sends detective Rory Naysmith reeling. Too young to retire, he accepts a position in small-town Winterset, Nebraska. Handed an unsolved truck hijacking case, with the assistance of a rookie, Rory sets out to prove he is still able to go toe-to-toe with younger men. When the body of a Vietnam veteran turns up, he dons his fedora and spit-shines his shoes. But before he can solve the murder, an older woman disappears, followed closely by a second hijacking. He doggedly works the cases, following a thread that ties the two crimes together. But can Rory find the mental and physical strength to up his game and bring the criminals to justice before disaster strikes and he loses his job?

Regardless of the job type or position, when we begin a new one the first thing we usually get to do is sit and wring our hands and wish for absolutely anything to do. This is the plight of Detective Naismith. New to the Winterset PD. He’s been a detective in tough places and proved himself plenty but now…he’s the only big fish in a small pond. The only big fish with exactly no cases. But sometimes, we get what we wish for, and Rory Naismith does.

I thought this started out a little slow but when I looked back on the whole story, I realized it was the nature of the story. By that I mean everything started out slow for poor Detective Naismith. He had to sit on the desk, answer phones, even deal with a bunch of little old ladies worried about their friend. Slow, right? Then, the storyline picked up. The reading began to flow and then the author had my full attention.

This is a somewhat long book. But the author seems to fill it with character description. We get to know the inner lives of our characters and their stories. This is a good mystery filled with some red herrings that kept me guessing. A mystery that I really enjoyed.

Terry Korth Fischer has several other stand-alone books published. All have good reviews. I sure did like Detective Naismith though. Hope we get to see him again.