The Swamps of Jersey

Mystery & Thrillers

By Michael Daigle

Publisher : Imzadi Publishing

ABOUT Michael Daigle

Michael Daigle
Michael Stephen Daigle is the author of the award winning Frank Nagler  Mysteries. He lives in New Jersey.

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Description

Even in a hurricane, it should have been a simple case to investigate, Ironton, N.J. Frank Nagler thought. Even if the victim was found in a swamp and didn't have a head. Someone would report a wife, sister, daughter, a friend missing. Once the water receded, clues would float up. But then they didn't, and Nagler wondered why.  Then it was suggested that his missing girlfriend might be involved, or even the victim. And Nagler wondered why.
That is the story Nagler faces in this first Frank Nagler Mystery, "The Swamps of Jersey."
In the end , the case is personal and draws Nagler down paths on his life he has buried, just as the truth of his investigation into the headless woman is suffocated by cheap and dangerous politics and evil in plain sight.
 He has watched his native city crumble economically, be twisted by greed and dirty politics. He wonders who among his friends are now enemies, who is fair and who is cheating. And he wonders when his heart, broken by the death of his young wife, will heal. "The Swamps of Jersey" follows Nagler through the twists of lies and deception. It asks two questions: "Who can he trust?" and "What happens then the crime you are investigating breaks your heart?"       

Dirty politics and murder combine to cause havoc in depressed and storm-damaged Ironton, N.J.. In the First Frank Nagler Mystery, Detective Frank Nagler is assigned to find the killer of a young woman who mutilated body was discovered after tropical storm in the Old Iron Bog. He is frustrated by the lack of progress and concerned that many clues seem to point to his former and missing girlfriend as a suspect.

Beautiful writing with a dark plot: murder and dirty politics in a down and out city in New Jersey. Detective Frank Nagler, native son of this city, is a worn down, gritty character with a deeply buried sensitive side. Confronted with a body dumped in a bog at the tail end of a devastating storm that leaves the city in ruins, the case is further complicated because the corpse lacks both hands and head. Years ago, the detective apprehended a serial killer with a predilection for mutilation and became a local hero. Is this new grisly murder the work of a copycat killer? Fortunately for the reader, things are not that simple. The storyline is intricate and leaves the reader intrigued and turning the pages to discover what lies beneath. Characters are immediately human, complex and draw the reader into the decaying city they call home. The author has a way with infusing the prose with metaphors and similes that bring a scene to life and work on several levels. If you enjoy literary mysteries with well-crafted plots, this book is for you.