Night Work

Joe Trumbull is one unlucky guy - he lost his fiancee 2 years ago to a grisly murder and when he finally decides to go on a date with another woman, another murder happens.

"Night Work" is the first Hamilton non-series novel and it is decidedly different from his series. It is a lot darker and I suspect it was an exploration of a different storytelling that cannot work with Alex McKnight.

Trumbull is a probationary officer in Kingston, New York and had buried himself into his work and into boxing after the love of his life died. The biggest issue is that it seems like he may be a killer - hiding behind a civilized facade. And when the state police decides to investigate, things start looking worse by the minute - especially when more show more corpses show up.

For most of the novel, I was not sure if we are dealing with an unreliable narrator or if something is really off. And when one decided to trust Joe's story, the clues and misdirection were always there to make you doubt yourself. Trying to pull this technique usually backfires but here it works beautifully - all the way to the very end.

It takes awhile to get into the story - the setup is part of how Hamilton pulls off the story. The only thing I am sorry about is that I will not be able to read this novel again while not knowing what happens at the end. And Steve Hamilton proves again that he can write. show less

Two years ago, probation officer Joe Trumbull's fiancée was murdered, just days before their wedding. Still aching from the loss, Joe decides it's time to move forward, so he accepts a blind date, which goes surprisingly well—until he learns the next day that his date, too, has been murdered. It's not Alex McKnight but I totally enjoyed this book, a new setting, a new character and a new approach to his writing says he will be around a long time.

Joe Trumbull is a juvenile probation officer in a small town in upstate New York. His fiancee was murdered 2 years ago, and he is finally going out with another woman. When his date is discovered dead only hours after he left her, things begin to be difficult for Joe, and interesting for us. The town's lead detective is Joe's best friend, so the State Bureau of Investigation is called in to handle the case. Joe is forced to do what he can to uncover the truth, since the SBI seems interested only in him.

I enjoyed this book very much. While we are privy to Joe's thoughts, we are kept guessing about the motivations of the other characters. Bit by bit the truth is uncovered until the climactic ending. This book is on a par with Hamilton's show more Alex McKnight books, and Joe is not dissimilar to Alex in several ways, but definitely not a clone. Anyone who enjoys Hamilton's earlier books should seek this one out, as well as anyone who enjoys this type of mystery story. show less

I had a review for Night Work and lost it, but I can't forget Steve Hamilton's characters and how the story ended. I remember the story like I just put the book down. Joe Trumbull put up a constant effort to make things right with himself and help others, but . . . you need to read the book or I'd give it away.

[This is the second of three Steve Hamilton book reviews.]

Joe Trumbull lives and works in Kingston, New York State, the town he was born in. Joe is a probation officer, not a parole officer, as he hastens to tell you. As a probation officer he works for the court, advising the judge on a sentence that will keep the offender out of prison. If an offender is given a probation period, then Joe tries to help them from re-offending. His best friend is Howie, going back all the way to elementary school. Howie is a detective on the Kingston police force and usually the connection is useful.

Howie and his wife Elaine have always been there for Joe, and never more so since the un-solved murder of his fiancé Laurel three days before their wedding. Two years since the murder, Joe goes on a blind date, show more feeling that he is ready for a new social life. The date with Marlene goes well, or at least Joe thinks it does, but the next day she doesn’t answer his phone calls. Late that night Howie comes to collect Joe and his worst fears are realised. The nightmare starts again.

It took me a little while to get into this story, but once I did I was caught up in Joe’s own disbelief that this could be happening to him again. Are women being killed because they have a connection to him? Or, is he, as the detectives investigating the case seem determined to prove, actually the murderer? When a third woman is murdered it seems that there really is a case against Joe. We see events through Joe’s eyes and this adds to the puzzle. I didn’t pick the way this book would end and the tension built well.

I enjoyed the back-stories that Steve Hamilton was able to weave around the main thread of this book. There are lots of little stories about probationers and their families that Joe has dealt with, the successes and the failures. The “good cop, bad cop” scenario of the investigating team was done well too.

NIGHT WORK is Steve Hamilton’s first stand-alone novel. His series featuring Alex McKnight has seven titles. His first novel A COLD DAY IN PARADISE won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Award for Best First Mystery by an Unpublished Writer. Once published, it went on to win the MWA Edgar and the PWA Shamus Awards for Best First Novel, and was short-listed for the Anthony and Barry Awards. In 2006 he won the Michigan Author Award. His website at http://www.authorstevehamilton.com/ contains extensive information about all his books, and includes a multi-media tour of NIGHT WORK’s Kingston locations. show less

Not a book in the Alex McKnight series but a reasonably good story set right up the road from here in Kingston, NY. Two years after Joe Trumble's fiance is brutally murdered, he finally accepts a blind date. The date goes well but the next day he finds out the his date was strangled to death and he is a suspect.

This was a pretty good book to listen to, it flowed easily enough and to me was realistic.

Joe Trumble is a probabation Officer in Kingston, New York whose fiance Laurel was murdered 2 years earlier. Joe has decided to date again and his first date goes quite well but the next morning his date is found dead and soon another 2 women are murdered as well, women who Joe has met, though briefly. The police ask Joe to go through his files to look for someone who may have a problem with him.