Murder Down Deep: A Fletcher Strand Murder Mystery

by Philip Warren

Join veteran Pennsylvania State Police Detectives Fletcher Strand and Joe Bentsen as they unravel yet another complex series of murders. This time, they begin deep in a converted limestone mine where the body of a government executive is found, but was he murdered there or elsewhere? Who will have jurisdiction, the FBI or the PSP? Who would kill an executive said to be beloved by his employees? Why do the seemingly unrelated murders continue? Could the first killing be connected to a murder 20 years earlier?

Once Strand and Bentsen begin to peel away the secrets of both the victim and so many possible suspects, they find themselves all over western Pennsylvania learning more about each victim, the crime ring to which one or more might be connected, and how their investigation reaches inner circles of the White House staff and a humble farm in the midst of Amish country. The pressure is on for them to solve the riddle when Strand nearly loses his life in bringing a killer to justice.

348 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2023

About the author

My first years were in western New York State, then in a small town near Cedar Point, Ohio, where I finished high school. One of the first in my family to go to college, I received my BS in History/Political Science from Xavier University in 1968, then enlisted in the US Army Security Agency as a linguist (Chinese Mandarin) and served nearly four years in the US and overseas.

My first real job after the Army was as an Investigator with the US Civil Service Commission, later the Office of Personnel Management, where I rose through the ranks to Chief of Investigations for a key division in the program. When privatization came along, I joined the new company, USIS, as VP of Operations, and rose to Chief Operating Officer of the large national security firm before retiring in early 2004.

Since, I've served on two college boards of trustees, numerous other non-profit boards, and have published four novels, two under Philip Warren, and my first two, Turnover and TurnAround under John P. Warren, both pen names springing from my birth name.

I doubt that I'll ever retire. A sequel to "Winter's Dead" with Fletcher Strand is in the works!

Reviews

[Valerie Nemeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 and a half actually...(Goodreads you need an expanded rating system!)
So the problem I had was with the ending which I'm still trying to figure out...who was related to who and what the motive was, why a mine as the setting etc.
That said the journey to get there was an entertaining read overall and if I'm entertained I'm happy.