Review: A New Prospect by Wayne Zurl

A New Prospect by Wayne Zurl

Publisher: Black Rose Writing 

Pages: 276 

Format: 

Buy the Book:Amazon

Goodreads: Sam Jenkins never thought about being a fish out of water during the twenty years he spent solving crimes in New York.  But things change, and after retiring to Tennessee, he gets that feeling.  Jenkins becomes a cop again and is thrown headlong into a murder investigation and a steaming kettle of fish, down-home style.

The victim, Cecil Lovejoy, couldn't have deserved it more.  His death was the inexorable result of years misspent and appears to be no great loss, except the prime suspect is Sam's personal friend.

Jenkins' abilities are attacked when Lovejoy's influential widow urges politicians to reassign the case to state investigators.

Feeling like "a pork chop at a bar mitvah" in his new workplace, Sam suspects something isn't kosher when the family tries to force him out of the picture.

In true Jenkin's style, Sam turns common police practice on its ear to insure an innocent man doesn't fall prey to an imperfect system and the guilty party receives appropriate justice.


Kritters Thoughts:  A who dun it with a small town police force and a wealthy family at the center.  Since living with a police officer, I have found myself enjoying these who dun its that have a strong police presence even more so.  The story begins where you are introduced to this man and wife, the man is more than despicable and she is living with him just as he is.  In the next moment, the reader meets a retired police officer who has been enjoying retirement in a small TN town where life is the exact opposite from his police days in New York City.  After scandal hits the Chief of police, Sam Jenkins decides that he needs to come out of retirement to keep his new hometown safe.


Filled with twists and turns, this who dun it had a great recipe of murder, deceit and lots of family history.  As my mom always says she hates it when the person who ends up being the killer is nowhere in the book until the very end, not so with this one.  Although, I may have been on a different path, the killer was in the book the entire time.  I was happily surprised as to how all the clues came together and even with the twist of an ending.


A perfect who dun it to curl up with in these winter months and take a journey with these characters to find out who really had the best motive to kill our less than honorable victim.  I would even recommend this to the men folk as the police aspect makes it an appealing read.


Rating:  definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row



Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from the author and Nurture Your Books Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.