The Butcher's Son

A Dick Hardesty Mystery, Book 1

By: Dorien Grey

Narrated by: Jeff Frez-Albrecht

In the beginning… Did the rabidly homophobic chief of police with political ambitions murder one of his identical-twin sons for being gay? And what secrets does the surviving twin hold?

Dick Hardesty, working for the public relations firm charged with helping the chief in his run for governor, is assigned the task of being liaison with the chief's dysfunctional family. Can he pick his way through the skeletons in the chief's closet in time to derail the man's political plans?

©2013 F. Roger Margason (P)2013 F. Roger Margason

Well-written and Kept Me Guessing

This is the first book I've read by Dorien Grey. It kept me guessing to the end. There were red herrings that added suspense. Loved the characters and the culture Dorien brought effortlessly to life. Really enjoyed this reader, too.

Interesting story. Good narration.

Well told interesting mystery. Not the most original, but it did maintain a bit of suspense. Mostly enjoyed the main character's perspective, and the fluid writing style.

Dick to the rescue!

This is the first book in the Dick Hardesty Mystery series.

Someone is burning down gay bars. A homophobic chief of police is running for governor and the public relations agency Dick works for is supporting the chief. When the latest fire causes the death of several people, Dick wants to know who is doing it and what the police chief’s family is hiding.

Dorien Grey creates characters that are realistic and sympathetic. Their portrayal allows the reader to form an opinion of the character’s nature without being blatant.
I read this book before listening to it and Jeff Frez-Albrech does a good job of presenting the characters as I visualized them in the book.

There are many types of lose in this book which are dealt with in various fashions, showing a range of human reaction in dealing with these types of lose. Some work well for those involved, some not so well.

I would recommend this book (and series) to any mystery reader. It is short (just over 5 hours), so a good listen when you do not have the time or patience for a long story.

Interesting Story!

Any additional comments?

This is such a great mm mystery but I felt no satisfaction of justice for the 27 lives lost because my heart hurt reading that fire scene. Just sad.

And I'm disappointed with the ending for Patrick...no real conclusion for what happened.

Overall, this story is fantastic and I am falling head-over-heels in love with this author's writing style.

Predictable but good

While the plot line is somewhat predictable, the story did have several twists and was still a great listen.