The Murder of Paolo Mancuso

Three Mysteries In One (Parr’s Best Yet)

5 out of 5 stars

Given that I’m five stories into the Joey Mancuso & Father O’Brian series – I was not expecting to get three stories in one. I really was expecting to get the “vendetta-like” search for his father’s killer.  Not a complex interweaving story that is as intricate as it is enjoyable.

This has almost everything you could imagine. In Mafia stories, people end up dead, crazy, and atypical murder weapons and a cold case over 20 years old.  Also, a former cop who is the Last Advocate of the victim trying to solve it all while also solving his father’s murder.

I couldn’t put this book down.  I loved every minute of it.  It was both similar to and slightly different from the other books in this series because it was so close to home for Mancuso.  I got to see some of his more sneaky tactics along with following him to more exotic locations.

Parr was also able to throw some slight romance and tossed in a little “self-realization” by Mancuso that really topped his character off.  Mancuso’s arc could be complete with this story but I hope that it isn’t.  They are just such a fun duo trying to solve crimes that normal people (and even the cops) can’t seem to crack.

Overall, it might be my favorite Mancuso and Father O’Brian story yet.  And I think that anyone who has enjoyed the series until now will love this one.

Book Description:

The Murder of Paolo Mancuso

This time is personal – very personal.

Paolo Mancuso was killed in a bar in Little Italy 20 years ago. To this day, his murder has gone unsolved. A cold case the NYPD has not paid much attention to in all these years. Enter Antonino “Tony the Hammer” Falcone, Paolo’s best friend and co-Mafia family member. Tony, in his deathbed, reveals to Joey that the Mafia had nothing to do with his dad’s murder, something Joey always believed it had. Instead, with his last breath, Tony whispers only three words to Joey – Barcelona, Wetherly, Stevens.

With just those three words, Joey sets off to Barcelona. Is it justice or revenge Joey seeks? Will he learn things about his dad’s past he wished he hadn’t? Is Joey about to go up against one of New York’s five Mafia families? Will he solve Paolo Mancuso’s murder?

Now retired, Joey Mancuso, a former NYPD homicide detective with the Midtown South Precinct, had looked at the murder book many times during the time he was with the NYPD. Lacking clues and any evidence, he was never able to pursue the perpetrators responsible for his father’s death. Currently a licensed private detective in New York City and half-owner of an Irish Pub in New York’s Financial District with his half-brother, Father Dominic O’Brian, the pastor at Saint Helen’s Catholic Church in Brooklyn, also a licensed private detective, they set out to solve the murder of Paolo Mancuso.

The brothers Mancuso and O’Brian have been called by the New York press “The Last Advocates of the Victims” for the relentless pursuit of the perpetrators they exemplified in their last cases, working as consultants for the NYPD or as investigators for criminal law firms. But this time is personal – very personal. And Joey’s determination in solving this case, his dad’s unsolved murder, could make him do things outside the bounds of justice. Is it justice or revenge he seeks?

five-stars
The Murder of Paulo Mancuso by Owen Parr
Narrator: Fred Filbrich
Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
Series: Joey Mancuso & Father O'Brian #4
Published by Self Published on September 18th 2018
Genres: Mystery
Format: Audiobook
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I received this book for free. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Also by this author: The Dead Have Secrets, A Murder on Wall Street, A Murder on Long Island (A Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian Crime Mystery #2), The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer
Also in this series: A Murder on Wall Street, A Murder on Long Island (A Joey Mancuso, Father O'Brian Crime Mystery #2), The Manhattan Red Ribbon Killer, The Case of the Antiquities Collector

five-stars
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