Murder in Athens, IL :

by Ray Roentgen

After his wife dies, Dr. Ike Lowe relocates from the Chicago suburbs to his hometown in central Illinois to try and kick-start his next act. He stumbles upon a murder of one of his high school soccer teammates and discovers a string of brutal killings that shakes him out of his routine and leads him to question his community, his teammates, and himself. In this small town mystery thriller, Ike Lowe joins forces with FBI Agent Asteria Papadopoulos to investigate a series of deaths of African American women. In the course of the investigation, Ike confronts ghosts from his past, and at every turn is reminded that in the Land of Lincoln, history runs deep. The clues all point to a player from Ike’s high school soccer the main suspects are five of his best friends . . . and Ike himself. As if his life isn’t complicated enough, the murderer is trying to frame Ike for the most recent killing. Can he escape the labyrinth of the past to avoid arrest? Or, like a Greek tragedy, will it be his fate to take the fall? Can Ike stay in the game long enough to find the murderer before more bodies are buried?

Kindle Edition

Published December 22, 2024

Reviews

[Samantha K · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ all the local references were fun but the book wasn’t written well. Went on unnecessary tangents with no connection to the book that lost my interest.

[Audrey Stutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ike Lowe-radiation oncologist and amateur detective-takes us along for a wild ride through the town of Springfield as black women are getting murdered left and right. He and Agent Asteria work the case alone as well as against all odds to uncover the killer-one of Ike’s high school friends and soccer teammates. This book was perfectly paced, engaging, and exciting!! Loved that I never knew who to blame or which direction the story was going in, I was right alongside Ike and Asteria. Highly recommend!!!

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book desperately needed an editor.

[Anne Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting story with a good secondary character but the hero isn't very appealing. The story also tends to get buried under a lot of needless description which is a shame. Sometimes I had to work very hard to uncover the plot at all and a sharper edit would have helped. It might have been better if the main character had been Agent Papadopoulos as she was the more engaging character by far. 2.5 stars.

[Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I’ve read a mystery and it was fun to see all the references to Springfield and River Forest, Illinois. I applaud the author (who is a real life doctor) for following his passion and penning this novel. No one in my book club guessed the killer because I think we were all expecting the ending to be a little more clever than it ended up being. Looking forward to the next Ike Lowe mystery.

[Lisa Witte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riveting Novel

Overall, this book was an interesting murder mystery! The storyline made it seem so real! When you think you know people but then come to find out life isn’t as it seems!

[Sara Dunkel · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you don’t live in the Springfield, IL area, most of the references won’t mean anything to you. The references were fun but didn’t have much to do with the story line, the story was ok. I liked it until it became a little out of touch with reality in my opinion. Fast read.

[Kristin Vogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definite page-turner with a thoughtful and poignant end.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a thriller with a fun look into Springfield for those familiar. Loved this book and was guessing the murderer until the last second!!