Melissa Brown Levine wrote this review of Coastal Empire for Independent Professional Book Reviewers:
In author Rocky Leonard’s debut novel, Coastal Empire, Savannah private detective Robert Mercer, finds himself in the middle of an elaborate, illegal real estate scheme after taking a job to track a suspected philanderer. What begins as a simple case soon becomes a tangled web of fraud and murder. Mercer risks his on life as he works to save the remaining targets on the criminals’ list. This story has a complicated plot that moves in unexpected directions.
After receiving a thank you card from a jeweler in Atlanta, Sarah Reid hires Robert Mercer to find out if her husband, Barry Reid, a prominent local real estate agent, is cheating on her. Mercer accepts the job and spends a couple of days in Atlanta searching for the man who sent the thank you card. During his investigation, Mercer meets Kelly, a woman who originally presents herself as an employee of the jewelry store, but who Mercer later discovers is a significant figure in his case.
Upon his return to Savannah, Mercer meets Nick Mason when Nick runs out into the middle of the street as Mercer and his dog Ox are making their way home. This chance meeting turns into a partnership when Nick informs Mercer of strange real estate transactions involving multi-million dollar properties and a local attorney. When the men discover that the owners of two of those properties were killed just months after a real estate trust on their properties was set up, they investigate the key players in the scheme. Barry Reid happens to be one of them.
Leonard has created an intriguing storyline that demands the reader keep up with each twist and insertion of new information in order to comprehend fully what the characters are up against. Mercer emerges as a powerful force in the book, as he makes capturing the criminals and saving prospective victims his mission. His intelligence, military background, and compassion make Mercer an attractive lead and a solid anchor for future books in the Robert Mercer mystery series. There are many characters in this book whose roles must be defined and connected to the main plot. Fortunately, Leonard successfully connects all of the dots and doesn’t leave a single loose thread as the story ends.
Coastal Empire is a terrific start to the Robert Mercer mystery series and a strong first effort from a new author.
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