PDQ by Ronald Glanz

The scene is Madison, Wisconsin and the crimes are robbery and murder. The PDQ convenience stores are being hit by a man who tapes a handkerchief to his lower face. But the police has a grainy photo of the suspect from the in store video system. And then a lucky break. A traffic cop identifies the fellow as one he stopped earlier in the day. An arrest is made only, while this fellow is behind bars, another robbery is committed. Then a fender bender in a store parking lot leads them to another suspect. But he has a solid alibi. The police are stymied. They have two look alike suspects under surveillance when yet another robbery takes place. This time a policeman is killed.

This is a pretty clever mystery. Suspects looking so much alike they are mistaken for each other yet a third look alike is committing the crimes. We follow the lives of the detectives and the suspects as the crime spree continues. I did not like how the novel ended. For me, it was unsatisfactory with respect to any moral lesson or redeeming aspect of the novel.

Sensitive readers should know that there is considerable swearing in this book. Also, there is a great deal of adultery by one of the suspects. While there is some good bantering between the police, the writing is stilted. The author is an engineer and he writes fiction like one.

I generally review Christian fiction and I did receive this novel through a group that promotes Christian fiction. I would not put this novel in that genre, however.

Ronald Glanz worked as an engineer traveling throughout the world. He and his wife live in Mineral, Virginia.

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 224 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Book Club Network for the purpose of an independent and honest review.