When Things Fall Apart

Vengeance was on Ken’s mind as he lie in wait for the man he believed was intimately involved with his wife. He abducted the man and brutally murdered him despite the man’s proclaimed innocence. His attempt to cover his tracks post mortem included dumping the man’s body into the nearby lake. Kit Hanover is a rookie detective working her first case in homicide, assigned to Detective Wade Shepard. Shepard is unenthused about working with a green officer, and he openly shows his disdain for Hanover with sexist and racist barbs. Despite Shepard’s attempts to undermine her, Kit is a cop with good instincts. However, nothing could quite prepare her for the victim in her first murder case: her father, Sid Hanover. Kit is forced to relinquish her father’s case, yet she refuses to take a backseat in uncovering who savagely killed her father. This case will have more twists and turns than she or Shepard could imagine.

When Things Fall Apart is a rousing and intelligent detective novel with more than a few suspenseful moments. Kit Hanover is a newbie detective with something to prove, yet the senseless murder of her father turns her world upside down. The conflict-laden dynamic between Kit and Shepard provides a good portion of the compelling drama in the story as Shepard initially serves as a foil to Kit’s growth as a detective and inhibits her access to the case of her father. The author does an exemplary job in balancing the various points of view and never loses ground in propelling the action forward. When the story shifts from Kit to the killer’s point of view, the intensity is strong, and the possibility for a jarring surprise never seems far away. Author Alan Brenham has written an explosive whodunit.