The Devil Went Down to Austin

Book # 4 in the Tres Navarre mystery series starts when Tres learns that his brother, Garrett, has mortgaged the family ranch to fund a start-up software security company, and has missed the last four payments. When Tres goes to Austin to confront his brother he finds a financial and “with-friends-like-this-who-needs-enemies” mess. Things get worse when Garrett’s business partner, and perennial fuck-up Jim, is found dead. Add a ruthless business man, and a wealthy family intent on keeping family secrets buried and Tres has his work cut out for him in unraveling the disaster. As an added complication, Garrett’s attorney is Tres’s former love interest, Maia, who has flown in from San Francisco.

I like Tres as a character. He’s show more a PhD English professor, specializing in Middle English lit, a tai chi master, and a private investigator. He’s intense, has a sarcastic sense of humor, treats women well, does not suffer fools gladly, and loves his cat, Robert Johnson (who usually eats enchiladas). The books are full of Texas culture and locations that are familiar to natives. The plots are intricate with lots of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. This time around I didn’t ID the culprit until just a step ahead of the reveal. (Literally, a footstep is heard in that key scene and THAT’s when I realized who the culprit is.)

There are a couple of things that don’t quite make sense to me, but I can’t say more or I’d give away the plot.

I wish Riordan would go back to writing mysteries aimed at adults. He wrote this series before he started the Percy Jackson series (which really catapulted him to author famedom). I certainly understand why he continues to focus on that immensely popular (and lucrative) franchise, but I dread the day when I run out of Tres Navarre books (only 3 left in the series for me). show less

Tres Navarre, Ph.D., has taken a summer teaching job at the University of Texas at Austin. He plans to live with his brother Garrett, a computer wizard, while enjoying a laid-back academic term. But when Garrett's partner in a start-up company is murdered, Tres must switch from professor to detective.

Tres is a sometime PI who tries to help his brother who doesn’t want his help even though he’s the number one suspect. I really liked the Tres character. I liked the way he handled situations, and his somewhat sarcastic sense of humor, which made things more interesting than usual. The underwater diving scenes were pretty tense. Switching the story between Tres’s perspective and the unknown killer kept me guessing who he was. This is show more the first book I’ve read by Riordan but now I am looking forward to the next one. show less