Found

Matt Royal Mystery #8

by H. Terrell Griffin

When the serenity of beautiful Longboat Key, Florida, is shattered by a murder, and an elderly resident goes missing, Detective Jennifer Diane (J.D.) Duncan leaps into action. Her investigation is temporarily interrupted when she receives a text message with a current photo of a college friend she thought was dead. Matt Royal— J.D.’s friend and more— jumps in to help her. Further assistance comes when Matt’s friend Jock Algren visits. Jock is a shadowy operative of the U.S. government’s most secretive intelligence agency and has ties all the way to the president.



As the mystery deepens, a group of devious and dangerous characters intrudes on the lives of the islanders, creating havoc unusual for a sun-splashed island full of retirees and beach bums. Matt, J.D., and Jock rush to find the answer to why one old man was killed and another disappeared, the meaning of the photo sent to J.D. of her almost surely-dead college friend, and why somebody is trying to kill them.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

325 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2013

About the author

Award-winning novelist H. Terrell Griffin is a board-certified trial lawyer who practiced in Orlando for thirty-eight years. He and his wife, Jean, divide their time between Longboat Key, Florida, and Maitland, Florida. Griffin is also the author of Blood Island, Murder Key, and Longboat Blues. Blood Island was named an award-winning finalist in the 2008 National Best Books Awards, Fiction & Literature: Mystery/Suspense category.

Series:
* Matt Royal Mystery

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The small town of Longboat Key, Florida is a pretty quiet place. While many tourists visit in the summer, winter sees only a few residents and retirees who are looking to trade the bitter cold of their home towns for the Key's tropical climate. Matt Royal is one of the town's permanent residents. He's a middle-aged, "semi-retired" lawyer who gave up his prominent career in a large Florida city to settle down in the quiet Longboat Key. He stays busy doing small law jobs for the locals and assisting his friend, Chief of Police Bill Lester, in investigating crimes.

Matt and J.D. Duncan, a Longboat P.D. detective who Matt proudly claims as his "sweetie", are enjoying a quiet morning at Matt's bungalow when J.D. receives a disturbing text message. The message contains an image of J.D.'s college friend Katie Fredrickson. In the image, Katie looks pretty normal and is clutching a copy of the newspaper from that day. Written on the paper are the words "Good Morning Jed", referring to the nickname Katie used for her friend J.D. There's only one problem . . . Katie has been dead for almost a year!

The couple witnesses the start of another case during J.D.'s lunch break. The two watch as police chase a car off the side of a drawbridge, killing the driver. Soon, J.D's phone is ringing, calling her to the scene of a crime. It turns out that the driver involved in that fatal high-speed police chase was fleeing a condo parking lot, where he had just shot an elderly man at close range. The man, a WWII vet, was showing his neighbor some pictures from the 1940's. As J.D. interviews the neighbor and another friend of the victim, she learns that he was on his way to meet with a lawyer. That lawyer was none other that Matt Royal.

The Matt Royal Series by author H. Terrell Griffin has been a consistently enjoyable read over the course of its seven novels. Griffin always injects his love of Florida and the people who live there through witty observations about the city and equally amusing characters. Over the course of the series, readers have grown attached to Matt Royal and his crime fighting band of friends. This, combined with short chapters and unique mysteries, have made the previous installments quick and engaging reads.

The consistent excellence of the series thus far has left me with a decidedly mixed reaction to this latest installment. The eighth entry in the series contains many of the above mentioned elements that readers have come to expect. Unfortunately, the plot becomes so full, that it is difficult to keep each element of the story clear. The Matt Royal books have always required some suspension of disbelief, but Found pushes that idea to the limit. As the characters investigate murder, a missing person, secrets from a WWII submarine, police corruption, and a local mafia drug ring, the plot becomes convoluted and difficult to follow. A third of the way through, flashbacks to WWII are injected amidst the present day narrative, further diluting the focus of the novel. To be fair, the information that is given during these flashbacks is vital to understanding the conclusion, and Griffin does an excellent job making a satisfying end to all of the seemingly disparate plot points. Still, the journey to this resolution requires a good bit of patience.

Plot issues aside, Griffin's deeply drawn characters help to keep the weary reader invested in the story. Matt Royal is a likable everyman who readers are sure to get behind. Griffin explores the relationship between Matt and his equally strong willed girlfriend J.D. as the two come to terms with the complexities of their commitment. Matt operates on a thin line between what is legally acceptable and morally just. This creates tension between him and his law obligated better half. Griffin writes of these issues with a skillful delicacy that brings a much needed reality to the outlandish world he has created. While this is not the strongest installment in the usually stellar series, Found gets enough right to successfully warrant any future Matt Royal novels.

[Fred Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of you who have read my prior reviews of this author know that one of his major appeals to me is that his mysteries are set on the west coast of Florida, Long Boat Key, Anna Maria Island and occasional sorties into Bradenton, Sarasota and other nearby locations. Like the protagonist, I moved from overgrown Orlando to this area so I identify strongly with the great sense of place Griffin is able to describe.

More than that, though, is the appeal of his well crafted stories with interesting, well developed characters and the strong sense of right and wrong that runs through this and his other tales. Fans of John MacDonald's Travis Mc Gee series will enjoy this series, like a more modern version of the fabled white knight to the rescue.

This story centers on the killing of an older gentleman in a parking lot of an apartment complex and the killer meeting his end as his car flies off the bridge on the northern end of Long Boat Key. Shortly hero Matt Royal's girl friend, a local cop transplant from Miami receives a communication that indicates her college roommate may not have died after all. Tie this into a massive drug operation (not easy and sometimes erratic, hence the one star deduction) the intricacies of money laundering and some lawyerly issues like estate settlement and you have an entertaining mix.

There are 11 books in the Matt Royal series so plenty to hold your interest if you are a fan of continuing series this might be a writer to explore. Sadly, there will be no more as Griffin passed away in February 2019. I am only sorry that I discovered him too late to have met him at a signing and passed on my compliments for books well done.

[Herb Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series has steadily degenerated. The first one I read had some problems with plot and unbelievable characters. I admit to browsing my way through two more. Free, right? It’s true that you get nothing for free and in this case it’s mega true

This is a real stinker. I think Matt and JD head for the shower or the bedroom ten times and usually after killing one or two bad guys. When Matt’s buddy, Jock, the president’s personal on call assassin, shows up. The body count rises dramatically. Before they are finished I think they have taken out five per cent of the population of Longboat Key, mostly out-of-towners, thank God.
When JD discovers that Jock has been summarily killing malefactors,thanks to Matt’s disclosures, she has a crisis of conscience. After all she is a police officer. Will these two lovers survive this crisis? LOL Or will JD decide there’s a need for extra judicial justice and put her conscience to bed, usually after the obligatory soaping in the shower. There’s nothing like a thorough rogering to salve the conscience

I could say more about the plot which tangled web introduces themes.of adoption, domestic violence, Uboats, spies, cartels, Mafiosi, sexual abuse, human trafficking, fraud, money laundering, murder and lost documents. I could go on. If he was talking, you’d wanna tape his mouth shut. Since he is writing, his hands should be zip tied behind his back

[AJourneyWithoutMap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found: A Matt Royal Mystery by H. Terrell Griffin, which is #8 in the series, is one of the easiest novels to read for a number of reasons. A novel with a short chapter is easy to read. Although the seventy-two chapters make the book appear to be a tome of a read, each chapter contains a mere crisp 4/5 pages which is easy to handle, and you are at liberty to skip one or two if you do not have the heart for it. But I don’t think you’ll want to do that as the story is exciting, the plot engaging and the writing excellent.

In Found, detective Jennifer Diane Duncan (JD) gets a text from a missing woman believed to have died a year ago. Katie was thought to have been killed in her own home but her body was never found. As the only detective around, she has a busy schedule and asks Matt Royal, a friend and retired lawyer, for help.

JD pursues the case of a retired elderly fisherman who saw battle in World War II. The elderly Ken Goodlow was on his way to see Matt at the time of his murder. JD and Matt are joined by Jock Algren, who is a friend of Matt, and a shadowy operative of the U.S. government’s most secretive intelligence agency. The three-some make a formidable team but with the peace and serenity of beautiful Longboat Key, Florida, shattered by nameless and dangerous characters who swarmed the island, will they succeed in unraveling the whole mystery?

Found is a pulsating story that reverberates with action, suspense, intrigue and drama.

[Thomas R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the latest in the Matt Royal series and it was excellent. The storyline involved WW2 and modern day and the author really did his homework. The description of what the Submarine operations were like and the details were amazing. The storyline also highlighted how greed will make the most honest people break the law and even kill to keep their lifestyle. The ending was very good and the author tied up the loose ends in a very believable and realistic manner.

[InD'tale Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

There are many layers to this mystery, many murders as well as a few sub-plots that run parallel with the story.

Read full review in the 2014 March issue of InD’tale Magazine.

[Dawn Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found by H Terrell Griffin

354 Pages
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Release Date: November 19, 2013

Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Florida, Detective

Matt Royal is a retired lawyer from Orlando. He moved to Longboat Key for a simpler life but things on the island do not tend to stay that way. His girlfriend Detective J.D. Duncan tries to keep him on the right side of the law but when clients are shady and lives are at stack, that isn’t always possible.

This book has two stories that are woven together through the book. The first involves J.D.’s longtime friend Katie Fredickson who was declared dead a year ago. The second revolves around a murder and a police chase that ends with the driver going off a drawbridge.

The book is fast past with a lot of action. The characters are fully developed and the story is written in the first person point of view from Matt. If you enjoy the Doc Ford series by Randy Wayne White, you will definitely enjoy this series.

[IslandRiverScribe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective J.D. Duncan receives a text message containing a picture too small to make out. She emails it to our main protagonist – and her boyfriend – Matt Royal, so that it can be viewed on a larger screen. What they view is the picture of a young woman seated in a chair holding a copy of that day’s newspaper. On the newspaper is boldly written the words, “Good Morning, Jed.”

The photo looks just like one that kidnappers tend to send out as “proof of life” and, in effect, that is just what it is – proof that Katie Fredrickson is alive. Katie was J.D.’s best friend during college, but they drifted apart as marriages and careers intervened. Then, a year ago, Katie’s husband, Jim, a prominent criminal defense attorney, was murdered and Katie had been presumed killed at the same time. Even though no actual body had been found, too much blood and other bodily fluids had been found to believe that Katie could still be alive. Apparently, however, she is.

An hour or so later, while taking her lunch break on the beach, J.D. and Matt hear emergency sirens, see the drawbridge begin to rise and then witness a Jaguar clip the bridge railing at high speed and sail right over into the Bay. It seems that the now-deceased driver of the car had just killed an old man in a parking lot and was being pursued by one of J.D.’s fellow officers. After being pulled from the bay, the body carries no identification, his prints are not on file and copies of some old German documents are found in the trunk of the Jaguar.

J.D. quickly heads to the condo where the shooting occurred. She discovers that the victim was a WWII survivor and had just shown some pictures from the 1940’s to a fellow historical society member. And he was on his way to see Matt Royal on legal business when the man in the Jaguar called him over to the car and executed him at point blank range with a shot to the forehead.

At this point, J.D. casually checks in with the lead detective on Katie’s case, Sarasota Captain of Detectives, Doug McAllister, and Matt visits Katie’s parents in Winter Park. Both ask about the case but do not tell McAllister or the parents about the text message photo. Within hours of these meetings, J.D. picks up a tail.

It turns out the tail is a PI hired by one Sal Bonino, a local small-time mobster who dabbles in extortion and money-laundering for drug ventures. But Sal Bonino is a ghost. No one has ever seen him. Plenty of people work for him but their only contact is electronic.

After Matt expresses his displeasure to the PI, a thug shows up with the intention of delivering a bone-breaking message to Matt. Bonino apparently wants Matt to be less inquisitive about his activities. However, the only bones that break are those of the thug – one shoulder and both knees – courtesy of Matt and his carry permit.

Then, in short order, J.D.’s murder case intersects with a Sarasota PD case, and the action begins to ratchet up. J.D. discovers one of her witnesses in the shooting of the WWII survivor has been murdered in McAllister’s jurisdiction. McAllister takes the case away from his subordinates and his explanation of the evidence doesn’t add up. And by now, his interpretation of the evidence in the Fredrickson case is beginning to look suspect also.

At this point we have a current murder case, an old murder case, a person coming back from the dead, and a mysterious mafia type as well as a high-ranking police detective who somehow seem to relate to them all. Coincidence after coincidence involving timing, intent, evidence and action occurs. Katie Fredrickson sends two more pictures and Jock Algren flies in. Wave after wave of Bonino’s thugs attempt to kill Matt and J.D. and the body count increases exponentially. Did I mention that Jock has arrived? And the story has only barely begun.

In this 8th and, to date, last entry in the Matt Royal series, H. Terrell Griffin has crafted a highly complex and convoluted tale of corruption, espionage and murder. In fact, it is too complex, too convoluted and contains too many coincidences for this seasoned mystery/thriller reader to be comfortable.

Griffin also seems to dumb down the character of J.D. Duncan. Before she came to Longboat Key, J.D. was the Assistant Homicide Commander in the Miami-Dade PD. She would not have attained that rank were she not a thorough and intelligent investigator. And in each of the earlier books in which she appears, she evidences that thoroughness and that intelligence. Now, all of a sudden, J.D. is automatically saying that she doesn’t think some person is involved or that a piece of information is not important. And she is making these judgments before she fully investigates rather than saying her usual “I don’t know – yet.”

And, suddenly, Griffin has her unable to see the proverbial forest for the proverbial trees. For instance, she knows that Katie has given her a German U-boat reference in a photo but she fails to remember that WWII German documents were found in the first killer’s car. And this is only one of several important mental missteps that she makes. The only thing Griffin seems intent on maintaining in Duncan’s character is her ethical opposition to Jock’s occupation and methodology.

About two-thirds of the way through the book, the muck and the mire of the intertwined plots becomes almost too much. At this point, there are too many bodies – living and dead – to keep straight. There are too many coincidences that require suspension of disbelief for the plotlines to gel properly. And just when it becomes so obvious who Sal Bonino is, you find out you’re wrong. But, believe me, you will never figure out – until you’re told – who kills Sal Bonino.

I received this book through the Goodreads First Reads Program. That fact did not, in any way, influence my opinion of the book.

[Erwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find Matt Royal

Glad I Found Matt Royal. He puts a good novel together. One likes his characters. Partly because they are interesting, partly because they’re mostly fun and mostly because they move the story. And this story is a little complicated, it has unique twists and turns, but Griffin’s characters are always there to unravel the twists so they can make some future turns. Find your way to Found. You won’t regret it.

[Ann Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

What A Great Read!!

Once again, Mr. Griffin has penned another amazing book! This is such an incredibly well crafted book with many different story lines, but he somehow ties it all together by the books end with multiple surprises along the way! I literally read the last 25 chapters without putting the book down and I know that you will also love this book if you are a fan of great story telling in a beautifully written book!!

[Lynn Vaughan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynnie

A fantastic book. Love reading it. Could not put this one down.
So much history, so many twist and turns.

I enjoy the areas which he talks about and restaurants, some I have enjoyed myself since I have been down here 20 years now.

The characters are super. Keep up the fantastic work.

[Evelyn Hendricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent Roller Coaster Ride

I loved the back story of WWII, and the only survivor of U-166 , Bud Jamison. His story is beautiful. I liked the way all of the subplots were going on almost at the same time. I kept thinking how will it all come come together and be believable. Somehow it did. Great fictional writing. Outstanding!!

[Caroline Simerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Connections

Pretty good and kept my mouth opened a few times. Good detective work and liked the connection of agencies.
Got a bit confused with so many dead bodies
But did enjoy many story lines.
Recommend to those who like detective sagas.

[Laura Poppenwimer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't get past the number of murders in this storyline, but was surprised at the ending. The only thing that kept me reading was the location, as a FL resident was interested in the places and descriptions on Longboat Key, one of my favorite places in the state.

[CW Crollard · Rating 4 out of 5]

WWII German submarine in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Coast.

Thriller with money laundering, murders, drug sales, missing victims, set in the beautiful Florida Gulf Coast. Cops, lawyers, secret agents and retirees mix it up.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable main characters who interact well and are comfortable with each other.

But a very convoluted, complicated and unrealistic plot with too many unlikely links between characters.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for an easy read. Too many people to keep track of and some have nothing to do with the story. Some of the story is quite unbelievable. Similar to the author’s other books.

[Keith Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read!

This was one of Mr. Griffin best stories yet! Being a former submariner and diver made this story real to me. I also enjoyed the historical connection.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious. Couldn't finish, stopped half way.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good series, good setting...will read another

[Chuck Sanborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trite, lazy writing.

This is too formulaic writing. Bad cop is villain, half of book is where and what they are and drank.

[Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is more like a travelogue than a mystery/thriller! Boring!

[Clifton H Chastain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked

Very well described. Enjoyed the detail of the characters. Will look forward to reading more from this author. Well done

[Joan Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Longboat crew needs to solve two mysteries. One, an older man murdered and the other, goes missing. An old friend of JD’s, thought dead, contacts her. Good read.

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love H. Terrell Griffin's books and so sad he recently died. Great escape reading.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in the series with a WW II submarine twist.

[John Monts · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book but lots of typos

Great book great story but lots of typos. Many unneeded hyphens etc. a few holes in the story. I expect more proofreading when paying for them

[Ray York · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Royal

The Matt Royal Mysteries are always a great read and looking forward to the next one. Thank you H. Terrell Griffin.

[Debbie Gillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

A real page turner. I am glad I came across it by accident and have recommended it to my husband who is an avid Patterson fan and looking for a new author.

[Richard A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but too convoluted.