Friday Feature & Review: Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard

closedTitle: Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard
Publisher: The Story Plant
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 300 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

O’Clair is a former Detroit homicide investigator who now owns a motel in Pompano Beach, Florida in his retirement. He runs the place with his much younger girlfriend, Virginia, who’s a knockout and can fix anything. One morning, he’s cleaning up after the previous night’s partiers when he sees a lovely young woman stretched out asleep on a lounge chair. He shakes her gently. Then he touches her neck and feels for a pulse. There isn’t one. Her skin is cold, body starting to stiffen, definitely in the early stages of rigor.

When a second girl is murdered, O’Clair knows someone is trying to send him a message. The way the girls are killed reminds O’Clair of a case he investigated years earlier. Now convinced the Pompano murders are related, O’Clair returns to Detroit Police Homicide to review the murder file and try to figure out what he might have missed.

And when Virginia is kidnapped by the killer, the stakes grow exponentially higher.

The most powerful work to date by one of the most thrilling suspense novelists of our time, EYES CLOSED TIGHT is relentless, surprising, and deeply satisfying.

The Review:

Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard is an intriguing and fast faced mystery. This well-plotted novel’s lead protagonist is a retired homicide detective from Detroit who now owns a motel in FL.

O’Clair’s discovery of a corpse on the beach is eerily similar to a case he worked on back in Detroit, but the killer was caught and convicted. However the current death is too similar to the previous killings to ignore, so O’Clair joins forces with Holland, the detective assigned to the case, and when another body turns up, O’Clair returns to Detroit to take closer look at the previous murders. Just as he begins closing in on the killer, someone he loves is threatened and O’Clair is soon in a race against time to capture the murderer before he/she kills again.

Eyes Closed Tight is an intricately plotted story that is told from multiple points of views. Some of the perspective switches are a little confusing at first but become easier to follow as the novel progresses. The closed case is revealed through flashbacks that provide an in-depth look into the previous investigation and subsequent arrest. Newly discovered information offers vital clues about the killer’s possible identity but additional evidence clouds the investigation.

Eyes Closed Tight is full of suspense from beginning to end and Peter Leonard’s clever storyline keeps the action moving at a brisk pace. The cast of characters is well-drawn and the good guys are extremely likable. The killer’s identity is well-disguised and a brilliant plot twist late in the novel completely caught me off guard. An alarming deadline drives the novel to a thrilling and dramatic conclusion.


Author Bio

leonard

Peter Leonard lives in Birmingham, Michigan with his wife and four children. He is a partner in the ad agency Leonard, Mayer & Tocco, Inc. Leonard is the son of late author Elmore Leonard.

Check out his website at www.peterleonardbooks.com

3 Comments

Filed under Blog Tour, Contemporary, Eyes Closed Tight, Friday Feature, Mystery, Peter Leonard, Rated B, Review, The Story Plant

3 Responses to Friday Feature & Review: Eyes Closed Tight by Peter Leonard

  1. Timitra

    I’m intrigued….Thanks for the review Kathy.

  2. laurie g

    I’m intrigued….Thanks for the review Kathy.