Let the Guilty Pay

Curiously named Bartholomew John Beck was a bestselling writer who wrote about a real murder he witnessed, but finds himself working a blue-collar gig after his writing career flounders. He is quickly caught up in murderous déjà vu when he discovers a female coworker mysteriously dead on his construction work site, and all eyes are on him because of the ominous similarities to the murder in his bestselling book. Rick Treon's intricately plotted Let the Guilty Pay details the timelines of two murders and how they may relate to each other, all the while investigated by two (!!) writers, one of which is involved somehow.

Treon displays his prowess as a storyteller by offering three types of narration: Beck's first-person account of the more recent timeline, a third-person account of the previous murder's timeline, and excerpts from Beck's bestselling book. It's an intricately plotted, fast-paced, yet suspenseful crime thriller. Treon skillfully alternates between the three narrators, offering a web of deceit that plays itself out over a couple of decades and which involves a cadre of characters willing to straddle the line between truth and what it takes to get things done to make a living. There's a genuinely thrilling plot twist about two-thirds of the way through the book that is fun and definitely unexpected.

But, even with this its finely tuned plot and multiple narrators, there are a couple of issues. First, the two main characters—Beck and Veronica—come across a little flat and their amorous entanglement is a cliché. Second, the setting of oil pipeline construction ultimately doesn't turn out to be all that interesting. There are strip club escapades by sexist welders and construction workers who make far more money than the two writers believe possible, but it doesn't lend itself as a unique or interesting setting. It could have easily been swapped out for the restaurant industry or the finance sector and still offer a murky workplace where women are sex objects and murder could easily happen. Fortunately, these are issues that can be worked out over the course of a series as opportunities present themselves for the reader to get to know Beck better, to possibly become more intrigued by him and, hopefully, cheer for his future adventures.

Overall, this was a good, fun read and I look forward to reading more from Treon. I'd give it 4 stars.