A review of Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton

It’s been five long years since the last “Alex McKnight” novel, A Stolen Season, was published. The sixth novel in the series ended with McKnight’s love interest being murdered in one of his cabins up n Paradise, Michigan, and he blamed himself for her death. At that point in the series, the author, Steve Hamilton, said he needed a break from the character. Mr. Hamilton wasn’t sure what he wanted to write about next, only that it wouldn’t be an “Alex McKnight” novel.

Of course, that left his readers hanging in the air for five years. Man, that’s a damn long time without a yearly fix. The author did manage to write two stand-alone novels, Night Work and The Lock Artist. Still, it wasn’t the same as an “Alex McKnight” book. We, the readers, needed to know what was going on in McKnight’s life and how he was coping with the death of police officer, Natalie Reynaud.

Well, the seventh novel, Misery Bay, is finally out, and it’s a definite winner! I’m only hoping it won’t be five more years before the next one is published.

This time around, McKnight is called in by Natalie Reynaud’s former boss, Chief of Police Roy Maven. Maven doesn’t like McKnight, but he respects the man’s tenaciousness in working a case. He knows that once McKnight sinks his teeth into an investigation, he won’t stop until it’s solved one way or another. Maven also understands that McKnight won’t hesitate to bend the rules when necessary, which is something Maven can’t do. Anyway, Chief Maven has come to McKnight for help and refuses to take no for an answer.

When Maven was coming up through the ranks of law enforcement as a young man, he worked as a State Trooper for a couple of years. One of his partners during that period was a man named Charles Razniewski (or Raz for short), who later went on to become a U.S. Marshall. Raz’s only son, Charles Jr., apparently committed suicide a few months before and Raz needs to know why. In his own mind, there was no reason for his son to hang himself out in an isolated wooded area, and Raz needs to know what propelled his son to take his own life in such an unusual way. Against his better judgment, McKnight agrees to look into the suicide to see what he can find out.

It isn’t long, however, before McKnight senses something horrific going on behind the scenes…something that leads him to believe that Charles Jr. didn’t commit suicide, but was rather murdered to get back at the father for an incident that happened in the past. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only suicide that has taken place with regards to the children of former State Troopers. McKnight soon finds himself in search of a serial killer as the F.B.I. become involved and attempt to kick him off the case. Of course, as we know, McKnight doesn’t give up on cases. This only forces the ex-Detroit cop to go it alone in search of a killer who may have even more targets lined up before the end is reached. McKnight will come as close to dying here as he did when he worked for the Detroit Police Department and was shot, lying on a floor and watching his partner die next to him. This case will teach him one very important thing—that evil comes in all shapes and sizes and can attack when least expected.

I can’t begin to describe the pleasure of having a new “Alex McKnight” novel in my hands. It was a long way, but well worth it. If anything, Steve Hamilton has become an even much better writer than he was before. He’s able to capture the pure essence of northern Michigan with its coldness and isolation without using a lot of fancy adjectives or adverbs. I like that in a writer. I can imagine myself riding along with McKnight as he drives across state, or feel the coldness in the Michigan night air in March and April. Though I’ve never been to Michigan, I certainly feel as though I know the Upper Peninsula due to reading these novels over the past decade.

One thing I certainly enjoy about the Alex McKnight character is that he ages with each book, just like I do. I feel a kindred spirit in him. He’s no longer a young man and isn’t able to do the things he did thirty years ago. That doesn’t stop him from trying…like going up against an armed bad guy with no weapon of his own. Also, McKnight’s word is his bond, and he always attempts to do the right thing, displaying acts of bravery that would freeze an average man cold in his tracks. Needless to say, whenever McKnight goes up against a killer, my money’s on him all the way, though in Misery Bay, he comes close to kicking the bucket when he takes a .45 round to the chest.

I also liked what Steve Hamilton did with the villain in this novel. You can understand the person’s need for revenge after what was done to him as a young boy. You may not agree with it, but you can see where the person is coming from. There are no black and whites here. Everything seems to be in the grey area, right or wrong. One good thing that happens to the main character is that McKnight develops an attraction for a female FBI agent, who’s investigating the suicides. As we all know, long distance relationships seldom work, but at least McKnight is coming out of his shell and his loss of Natalie Reynaud. He’s starting to feel the need to live again, which is important if the series is to continue.

Another thing that’s left in the air is whether or not Maven and McKnight will ever work together again. As hard as Maven is to like, he does soften up with McKnight and they do work well together as a team. I would like to see them and Leon get together to form some kind of detective agency, though they may not be enough work to keep an agency above water. Leon had to go back to selling snowmobiles, and then when that petered out due to a lack of snow, he started working in a movie theater, selling tickets and popcorn. My heart goes out to the poor guy because deep down, he’s a private eye at heart and a pretty good one at that.

All in all, Steve Hamilton delivers with full force the newest “Alex McKnight” novel, giving the readers the adrenaline rush they need after a five-year wait. Misery Bay definitely leaves you wanting more “Alex McKnight” stories, and I hope Mr. Hamilton is presently working on one as I write this. I need to know if McKnight and Chief Maven get back together, or if McKnight and the FBI agents start a long-distance relationship with each other.

This last bit is a little strange even for me. Whenever I put a face on Alex McKnight, for some reason I always see the author, James Lee Burke, who writes the “Dave Robicheaux” novels. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because Burke looks like he could live in northern Michigan, amongst the extreme cold weather and high snowdrifts. I guess it’s that roughed-looking face of his. Anyway, Misery Bay is highly recommended to lovers of the PI genre!