Dangerous Ends by Alex Segura

Hello, everyone. Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Alex Segura's latest Pete Fernandez mystery, Dangerous Ends.

Maya Varela has always believed that her father was wrongfully convicted of her mother's murder. Varela, a cop, maintained that two men had broken into his apartment and murdered his wife. He also claimed that a witness, a woman in an orange dress, showed up in an attempt to help. Unfortunately, as the investigation progressed, the police - Varela's own colleagues - soon turned an eye to Varela himself as the killer, assuming he'd been lying about the two men. And even though witnesses did see the woman, when said woman took the stand she recanted, causing Varela and his attorney to lose ground with the jury. 

Years after the jury returned a guilty verdict, Gaspar Varela has run through most of his appeals and it seems a new trial is their only hope for his release. But that means finding new evidence. 

That's where Kathy and Pete come in. After being involved in some highly publicized local cases, the two have become something of a team. And Maya has hired them to help with her father's case: Pete to investigate and Kathy to write a book about the case. And it seems, at least a little, that Varela's claims of innocence may have some truth to them. But as Pete and Kathy, paired with an ex FBI agent and former associate of Varela's, dig into the case, it soon becomes clear that no one wants them to succeed. When those threats turn into attempts on their lives, though, Pete becomes even more determined than ever to see the case through to the end. 

I'm a big fan of a great PI mystery and as one of my favorite of favorites winds down, I'll admit that I've been looking for a new detective to hook me. Alex Segura's Pete Fernandez has some big shoes to fill, but it seems he might be a good fit for me.

Set in Miami, this third installment in the series brings a dark and criminal underbelly to light - gangs and gang politics that tie all the way back to Cuba. In fact, Pete's own grandfather gets a bit of attention with chapters beginning in 1959 Cuba interspersed throughout the present day chapters.

It seems Pete's grandfather turned down an offer made by Castro's own men in his earliest days in power, leaving the elder Fernandez no choice but to flee to America with his family. And though Pete knows nothing about this at the start of the story, his family's past is eventually revealed to him as a possible connection to the current case.

I really appreciated the fact that while this was the third book in a series, it was easy to dive into as an introduction. That said, Segura does spend a bit of time bringing the reader up to speed (or offering a refresher, as the case may be) with Pete and Kathy, which could potentially mean a bit of spoilers for those of us who backtrack to the previous installments.

Pete and Kathy have a history - in fact, Pete was hired to find Kathy in Segura's first outing of the series, Silent City. Theirs is obviously a relationship built on a certain amount of shared danger and trust, and ample ribbing on the part of both characters. And again, diving in further into their story didn't leave me at any sort of disadvantage. Their characters were well built, without Segura ever leaning on or relying on the previous installments, making it easy for a newbie like me to easily get to know them and get a good feel for their relationship.

And as characters go, Miami itself is equally as important as Pete and Kathy. Miami isn't a place I've spent much time, but Segura definitely brought me there through Pete's eyes and experiences. From the Cuban cafes where Pete gets his cafecito fix to the beaches that play host to tourists by day and crime scenes by night, the setting is brought completely to life, making the story is that much more rich and intense as a result.

It's early days for me and Pete, but with Dangerous Ends I think we're off to a promising start!

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Alex Segura and his work you can visit his website here. You can also like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble