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4/5 Stars!

It’s odd what people will pay good money for.

However, it’s a win for Henry Swann because he’s paid to find people and most of the time, it’s people who don’t want to be found. Do not call him a private investigator. That’s not what he does. He finds people then his job is done. Swann has no desire to see a case through to its conclusion. There’s no money in that.

His “partner”, Goldblatt, “hires” him to find the grifter who swindled his ex-wife for almost one hundred thousand dollars posing as a psychic.

An attorney hires him to find the young woman who’s skipped town, but can supposedly clear his client of murder charges. His client… the hitman.

Swann doesn’t have high hopes for either case, but dives in because his bank account is looking anemic… and he’ll do anything for money. Anything. Almost.

I found Swann’s Down to be more about the man himself than the mysteries.

He paints himself as a pragmatist, has a memory bank of literary quotes concerning life, and his belief system appears to be nonexistent. But, those things make him good at his job… and allow him to survive.

Coming into the series at book five, there are missed connections for me. The death of Swann’s wife, losing his son, how he became a skip tracer, and of course, Goldblatt. Whom I found annoying at best, but there has to be more backstory for Swann to even entertain Goldblatt’s foolishness.

From cons and scams to mafia gangsters and hitmen. Henry Swann’s cases smolder and he likes it that way. But they could explode at any moment.

And he’s okay with that too.

Though the language may be too graphic for cozy-readers, mystery fans will love putting the pieces of this puzzle together, and crime fiction fans will enjoy the seedier side of justice and elements of danger.  Good read!

Enjoy!