Death at Charity's Point: (1 Brady Coyne Mysteries)

A Boston lawyer investigates a prep school teacher's suspicious suicide in this debut for "one of the most likeable sleuths to appear on the crime scene" (The Washington Post Book World). Brady Coyne never meant to become the private lawyer to New England's upper crust, but after more than a decade working for Florence Gresham and her friends, he has developed a reputation for discretion that the rich cannot resist. He is fond of Mrs. Gresham--unflappable, uncouth, and never tardy with a check--and he has seen her through her husband's suicide and her first son's death in Vietnam. But he has never seen her crack until the day her second son, George, leaps into the sea at jagged Charity's Point. The authorities call it a suicide, but Mrs. Gresham cannot believe her son, like his father, would take his own life. As Brady digs into the apparently blemish-free past of this upper-class prep school history teacher, he finds dark secrets. George Gresham may not have been suicidal, but that doesn't mean he wasn't in trouble.

About the Author :
William G. Tapply (1940-2009) was an American author best known for writing legal thrillers. A lifelong New Englander, he graduated from Amherst and Harvard before going on to teach social studies at Lexington High School. He published his first novel, Death at Charity's Point, in 1984. A story of death and betrayal among Boston Brahmins, it introduced crusading lawyer Brady Coyne, a fishing enthusiast whom Tapply would follow through twenty-five more novels, including Follow the Sharks, The Vulgar Boatman, and the posthumously published Outwitting Trolls. Besides writing regular columns for Field and Stream, Gray's Sporting Journal, and American Angler, Tapply wrote numerous books on fishing, hunting, and life in the outdoors. He was also the author of The Elements of Mystery Fiction, a writer's guide. He died in 2009, at his home in Hancock, New Hampshire.

Review :
"A gripping story, enlivened by the author's wit." --Publishers Weekly "The characters are all real people, the locale is so vivid you can smell the sea." --Ted Wood, author of Dead in the Water "William Tapply's first novel is honest with the audience. . . . It is this sense of quiet proportion that gives Tapply's debut its authentic ring." --The Boston Globe