The Errand Boy

by: Don Bredes

Published by: Three Rivers Press

Reviewed by Shawn Remfrey

In this third Hector Bellevance novel, we find Hector happily enmeshed in farm life with his pregnant wife and daughter. Everything changes when a car tries to run down Hector and his wife, leaving her in a coma. When the man that ran them down ends up murdered, Hector becomes a suspect. The murdered man’s father asks Hector to find his son’s murderer.

Though his daughter and the police beg Hector to leave it alone, being the town constable, he just can’t. Out of compassion and a need to find the truth, Hector puts himself deeper and deeper into more trouble in his small Vermont town. When his daughter is kidnapped from the hospital, Hector realizes that all of a sudden he has no choices left.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters are well thought-out and realistic. At several points, I wanted to just walk into the book and start smacking people around and force them to listen to reason. The mystery is so well-plotted that you have no idea what’s going on, but the actions of all the characters, as they try to figure it out, really get to you. They make rash decisions and have their priorities skewed.

Near the end of the book, I was in such a state of confusion over these characters that I couldn’t have told you who the good guys were and who the bad guys were.

Though this was a good book, there was just that little something missing that kept it from being great. It was too easy to put down and too difficult to pick back up. This is a great read for anyone who loves mystery or suspense, but I feel like a little more suspense could have been added at the end of each chapter to keep the reader pulled in. It was almost like the end of every chapter was an intermission, and I found myself taking full advantage of it.

Armchair Interviews says: A mystery well worth your reading time.

Author’s Web site: http://www.DonBredes.com