The Master of Midnight

By William Michael Davidson (Indie author, 2024)

Genre: Murder Mystery/Crime Thriller/Whodunit

Pages: 406

Via: Author request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kimber the Magnificent here. Giving you a quick heads up: The hero of this story isn’t a hooman. It’s Pharaoh the Rottie. You’ll get that if you read the book. Cuz Pharoah’s like, Pawsome! And my new best friend! Oh yeah.

So. Haven’t heard of The Master of Midnight? Detective Otto Haines? Author William Michael Davidson? Well listen up, Buttercup. Cuz all of the above? They’re goin’ places. Like high on the crime thriller/whodunit shelf.

Setting

This book is set in She Who Must Be Obeyed’s home state of California. Yes, one of us knows Long Beach well – the one who’s older than dirt. I’ll let Her Momness fill ya in on the deets about this lithe and nimble murder mystery/whodunit:

The Basics

A horrific crime. No leads. No suspects. No arrests. And a whole lot of yuck.

Body parts found in two public parks miles apart from each other have Detective Otto Haines stumped. Most think some sick sadistic murderer is out there. But there are problems with this case. Big ones. As Haines tries to hunt down the killer, he must also deal with his rookie partner, Serena Grimm. (We kept wondering if she’s any relation to Jacob or Wilhelm?)

The Starbucks-latte drinking Serena Grimm is aptly named. She has the “bedside manner” of a bull in a china shop. And the empathy of a brick. But she’s a good detective. And her skills come in handy. In more ways than one.

As the trail to the killer becomes more and more shadowy and weird, the grisly nature of the crimes forces Otto to reconsider everything he knows about good and evil as he struggles to deal with his own inner demons and a secret from his past.

The Great Freak Out

That being said, one of us kinda freaked out when Otto and Serena are called in on another murder. (Hi, Mom) Pretty grisly. Same M.O. as the last one. It’s a “a bad case of déjà vu.” Barf alert.

Compelling

This book pretty much blew us away. Truth? We almost stopped reading it. It’s rougher than what we usually gravitate toward. But the story is compelling. Absorbing. With top-notch writing. So we stuck with it and plowed ahead. Besides. Guacamole and Fleetwood Mac? Count us in! Ditto the Chateau d’If. (Yeah, we noticed. Touche, Edmond Dantes!)

Kimber: That Charles Bourdain dude? He may be a detective. But I don’t like him. (Mom: That’s really saying something. Cuz The Kimster loves everyone!) And that jerk who was mean to the dog? I’m going to bite him.

Mom: No need, Kimmi. I will. (“Jerk” is bein’ charitable, if ya know what I mean.)

Best

One of the things we liked best about this book? Detective Haines isn’t a wet-behind-the-ears whipper snapper. Otto and his wife Emma are older. Empty nesters. Their two children are both grown. They understand teenagers about as much as any hooman can. It’s nice to see a main character who’s older and well-seasoned, with a solid marriage built on trust and mutual respect. Finally.

We also loved the character of Police Chief Moore, she of the gluten-free cookie offerings. Oh yeah.

There’s also art. Beowulf. Gizmo. A museum. Magic and sleight of hand. It gets kind of creepy. Creepier than our usual cuppa. So we had mixed feelings about this murder mystery thingy. We felt like some characters were extraneous. Like Zoe. And the “surprise” announcements from Otto’s daughter Jess and her main squeeze Henry seemed superfluous. Bunny trails.

A Rush

But The Master of Midnight is quite the adrenaline rush. In fact, you may want to make sure you’re current on you blood pressure meds before diving into this puppy. Tightly written, finely crafted and expertly paced, The Master of Midnight isn’t for the faint-hearted. But if you like edge-of-your-seat, white-knuckled nail-biters, this fast-moving, high-octane crime thriller fills the bill. And then some. We couldn’t put it down! 

Now. One of us has to scout up some more guacamole… and our copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. Ta!