Book Review: Murder By The Numbers

Reviewed By: Shirley - RAM

Murder By The Numbers     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Richard Hicks
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller
Xlibris

Eddie DeSilva is forced into retirement from his job as San Diego Police Chief. Recently widowed, jobless, he hasn’t time to think ‘What’s next?’ before being pulled into an unofficial investigation of a possible mercy killing. The police have arrested the man’s daughter but psychologist Pauline Graham, a family friend, is convinced she didn’t do it. Obviously someone did, and Eddie wants to determine who that was.

The interesting characters, in order to investigate, travel from California seaside to Pennsylvania farmland while one promising suspect after another is cleared. In the end you may have suspected the killer but you won’t anticipate the surprising ending.

The reference to numbers in the title refers to a system of rating personality types called Enneagram. Think of the Myers-Briggs method of typing personalities. The Enneagram system believes that by learning about what kinds of things you put energy into, you can develop more self-awareness. Although discussed in the novel, it didn’t become intrusive in the story. The series of nine types allows for the possibility of eight more stories to follow. Hicks writes an entertaining mystery.

Shirley - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Shirley - RAM

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