About the Book
Private investigator Andy Hayes takes the assignment against his better judgment.
In 1979, a high-profile burglar shot a cop, was apprehended, and then disappeared without ever being prosecuted. Forty years later, after the wounded cop's suicide, his son, Preston Campbell, is convinced there's been a cover-up that allowed his father's attacker to go free. At first, Hayes dismisses Campbell's outlandish conspiracy theories. But when a mysterious Cold War connection to the burglar emerges, the investigation heats up, and Hayes discovers a series of deaths that seem to be connected, one way or another, to the missing criminal. Nothing seems to add up, though, and Hayes finds himself hurtling headlong down a decades-old path of deadly secrets.
In the midst of cracking the cold case, Hayes has another mystery to solve closer to home: What's been troubling his younger son, Joe, and why is his ex-wife so eager to have the boy out of her house? Further complicating matters, Hayes learns that another private eye, the captivating but inscrutable Hillary Quinne, is also on the trail of the vanished burglar and needs Hayes's help. As their professional and personal lives blur, Hayes wonders what he's gotten himself into, and whether he really wants out.
About the Author :
Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the Shamus, Derringer, and International Thriller Writers award-nominated author of the Andy Hayes private eye series; author of the standalone crime novel The End of the Road; and editor of the Columbus Noir anthology. His short mystery fiction has appeared in multiple magazines, including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and in many anthologies, including The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021; Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties; and Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon. His nonfiction book, No Winners Here Tonight, is the definitive history of the death penalty in Ohio.
Review :
"Columbus PI Andy Hayes never disappoints, and An Empty Grave is no exception. This latest installment of the Andy Hayes Series hooks readers from page 1 with all the ingredients for suspense. With a keen eye for fascinating crime and clever prose, Andrew Welsh-Huggins is a writer that will leave detective fiction fans in hard-boiled heaven." "An Empty Grave is an excellent mystery featuring a recognizably human investigator. Readers will identify with Andy and admire his strengths and the dedication he brings to his clients." (Marilyn's Mystery Reads) "A first-rate storyteller, Welsh-Huggins … masters depth of characterization as he further explores the personal life of twice-divorced Andy as he copes with a complex love life, the teenage angst of his two sons and his checkered past. Often violent, always stirring and profoundly affecting, An Empty Grave displays Welsh-Huggins at his creative and deft best as a talented practitioner of crime fiction at once dark and humane." (Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star) "The seventh 'Andy Hayes' mystery, following Fatal Judgment, is a satisfying, complex story for readers who enjoy hard-boiled private eyes who struggle with their personal lives." (Library Journal) "Welsh-Huggins has created a truly hard-boiled, streetwise detective that, in spite of a tarnished history, some severe character flaws, and an acidic tongue, has survived and thrived in this series. And likeably so." "The grave is empty and the murderers are loose in Welsh-Huggins's latest thriller. In this exhilarating mash-up of wry wit, dogged detective work, and lethal adversaries, PI Andy Hayes exhumes a forty-year-old cold case loaded with mystery and mayhem. A compelling, up-to-the-minute read." "An Empty Grave, the latest gripping installment in the PI Andy Hayes series, will hook you from page one. Hayes, the deeply flawed ex-football-player-turned-private-eye reluctantly takes on the case of a possible cover-up in the disappearance of a high-profile burglar who shot a cop in 1979 and then disappeared. With a journalist's eye for details, clever, muscular prose, and dialogue as sharp as cut glass, this is Welsh-Huggins's best yet." "Just when the plot seems to be taking a turn to the unbelievable, Welsh-Huggins reins it in and introduces a thread that reminds readers how society has changed from the 1970s to the present. Clearly, Welsh-Huggins has pounded the central Ohio pavement in his day job, with the benefit of being able to pack his novel with streets, neighborhoods, restaurants and other locations readers will recognize." (The Columbus Dispatch) "[Welsh-Huggins] excels at storytelling. With a reporter's eye and a novelist's flair, he raises the bar
with each entry in his series. And his deepening development of Andy adds gravitas."
(Richmond Times-Dispatch)
