The Mongoose Deception (CJ Floyd Series #6)

When Cornelius McPherson, a former highway maintenance man, finds himself trapped in a tunnel he helped create decades earlier, he’s horrified to discover the well-preserved, frozen arm of a fellow worker. McPherson remembers a secret the man whispered to him—that he knew who assassinated John F. Kennedy. When McPherson also turns up dead, CJ Floyd steps in to sort out the details, in the process going on his own hunt for the presidential assassin. CJ’s journey is a retrospective trek that has him fielding CIA plots, mafia dons, and Cuban conspirators. But it’s not until he realizes that there were two attempts on Kennedy’s life prior to his actual assassination in 1963—one in Chicago and one in Tampa—that he’s able to hone in on who might have really killed the president. The investigation takes him from the pristine mountains of Colorado to the muggy swamps of Louisiana, and ultimately leads him to a grieving, long-silent, Louisiana backwoods Creole mother who may hold the key to what happened. Robert Greer brings his trademark complex but never confusing plot, colorful cast of characters, and stylistic brio to one of America’s enduring mysteries in this dazzling whodunit.

When Cornelius McPherson, a former highway maintenance man, finds himself trapped in a tunnel he helped create decades earlier, he’s horrified to discover the well-preserved, frozen arm of a fellow worker. McPherson remembers a secret the man whispered to him—that he knew who assassinated John F. Kennedy. When McPherson also turns up dead, CJ Floyd steps in to sort out the details, in the process going on his own hunt for the presidential assassin. CJ’s journey is a retrospective trek that has him fielding CIA plots, mafia dons, and Cuban conspirators. But it’s not until he realizes that there were two attempts on Kennedy’s life prior to his actual assassination in 1963—one in Chicago and one in Tampa—that he’s able to hone in on who might have really killed the president. The investigation takes him from the pristine mountains of Colorado to the muggy swamps of Louisiana, and ultimately leads him to a grieving, long-silent, Louisiana backwoods Creole mother who may hold the key to what happened. Robert Greer brings his trademark complex but never confusing plot, colorful cast of characters, and stylistic brio to one of America’s enduring mysteries in this dazzling whodunit.

Publishers Weekly

Greer's latest C.J. Floyd novel, which ties the JFK assassination to a thriller plot, will appeal mainly to conspiracy buffs, though the author offers little original material or theory. The historic crime resurfaces in the present day when an earthquake damages the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel in Colorado, revealing (in a move reminiscent of the 1984 film Flashpoint) the corpse of Antoine Ducane, who had hinted that he knew the truth behind the murder and then disappeared in the 1970s. The discovery of Ducane's body sets off a chain of violent events, and soon Greer's series detective and antiques dealer C.J. Floyd (last seen in 2006's The Fourth Perspective) gets involved. Greer derails any suspense with flashbacks to mobsters Santo Trafficante and Carlos Marcello discussing the need to kill the president. Given the many plot holes (why did the mob let Ducane live for a decade after Dallas?), Greer might want to stick to giving C.J. less controversial mysteries to solve. (Oct.)

Robert Greer lives in Denver where he is a practicing surgical pathologist, research scientist, and professor of pathology and medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He edits the High Plains Literary Review and reviews books for KUVO, a Denver NPR affiliate. Learn more about Robert Greer at www.robertgreerbooks.com.