Freedom Drop: A Len Buonfiglio/Caribbean Mystery

by Brian Silverman

Unknown Binding

About the author

Brian Silverman’s writing career has spanned over 30 years. He has written about travel, food, and sports for publications including the New York Times, Saveur, Caribbean Travel and Life, Islands, the New Yorker, New York and others. From 2004 through 2013 he was the author of the annual Frommer’s New York City guide book series. He co-authored, with his father, Al Silverman, the acclaimed Twentieth Century Treasury of Sports.

His short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Mystery Tribune, Down and Out Magazine, Vautrin, Rock and a Hard Place, Dark Waters, and Mystery Magazine. His stories have been selected to appear in The Best American Mystery Stories in 2018 and The Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories 2021. He is the author of two novels, Freedom Drop and Calypso Blue. He lives in Harlem, New York with his wife, Heather and his sons, Louis and Russell.

Reviews

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

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Freedom Drop
Suicide is defined as the intentional taking of one’s own life by different means. So, how can the police or any law enforcement agency can determine the true cause of death when in doubt. Len Burofiglio is a bar owner  on the magnificent Caribbean island of St. Pierre. The descriptions of the scenery and the beautiful warm water might make you hope on a plan and vacation there. But Len has a reputation for helping people and often as in the past has investigated deaths that were suspicious. A young woman named Deanna Gould is at the center of this mystery. She was a travel writer that fell off Freedom Drop, a historical site where some of the island inhabitants that are considered indigenous reside. Did she fall or leap to her death?
Sometimes the cause or an investigation can go cold but in this case months after the death, the case is no longer closed and Rawle Johns a popular tour guide is arrested and charged with the murder or Deanna Gould, the young woman thought to have taken the leap off of Freedom Drop.
Kasie his daughter has just arrived from New York and has not seen her for a long time and although he wants to spend some quality time with her for the week she is there he gets hooked into trying to exonerate Johns. His mother has someone deliver a special dinner dish as a warning that she was going to ask him to try and find out who killed the girl and investigate for the family. Superintendent Mc Williams is not happy about his interference but with the proper paperwork filled out and the family’s consent he is free to investigate the case and investigate on his own.
Len knew in his heart that there was more to her death and he was not going to have any peace of mind unless he found out who really killed her. When Craig Frost arrives on the island and finds his way to his bar, the link between him and Deanna is revealed. Working with her as investigative journalists for a news website, he explained their relationship and why he was asking Len for his help. Being the last person to talk with him the night before, he was the first to be questioned in his death. Someone poisoned the rum but who and why? It did not come from his bar.
The people on this island accepted Len after he helped solve another case bringing justice the way he sees fit. Things get dangerous when two men come to his house and his daughter texts him in fear. Tubby shows up and then things spiral more out of control as he wants his daughter somewhere safe but first we meet the Marcia Gould the mother of the young girl who supposedly leaped to her death. There are many players that the author includes in this mystery but just who is behind the deaths of both journalists and why? Was it something they were working on?
Two men came looking for Mr. Len and their goal was to scare his daughter and they killed his dog. Tubby in the meantime explained to him the link between Frost and Deanna and what might have caused their murders. Author Brian Silverman uses code switching to help us understand the dialects of the people living on this island.  Getting to know Rawle we understand the hardships he faces without his wife and hearing him tell his story and his side to Mr. Len while still in jail you wonder whether he is telling the truth or not. Added in we learn the reason for how Freedom Drop became you might say landmark where the slaves gave up slavery and oppression by giving up their lives for a different kind of freedom.
Lives will never be the same and when he realizes that his daughter might be in danger and too many events have happened he does the only thing he can, sends her back home to her mother. Not really wanting to go and at least enjoying the warm water and the beautiful snorkeling, there is more than must a tearful goodbye but not until we meet someone close to Len, Betta and her son Paolo and Mrs. John’s grandson who was smart and with Mr. Len enjoyed the phenomenon of the blue moon and the sea turtles. Len was relentless and would not give up getting Deanna’s phone records and loading them down to his laptop a startling revelation comes about. However, one encounter with Marcia changes his directions so why did she push him away? Just who was behind the murders and what happens to Rawle  you will not believe what he uncovers and how Tubby comes into play so many times to save the day and him.
The ending and the revelation after Len face off with someone and is seriously injured as an unexpected assailant comes out of the woodwork but is this the guilty party? Offered a deal that would set him up for life what he answers, and the outcome will shock readers as you will not know who is telling the truth and who is not. Lies, corruption, betrayals, greed, money, and fear all play a significant role in the final revelation but only you the reader can decide if justice was really done. What is your definition of justice? What about the brand that Mr. Len dishes out? What do you think about the final faceoff with McWilliams? Freedom Drop is a powerful novel dealing with racism, prejudice, deception, deceits and hidden truths and lies about what really happened to Deanna Gould and Craig Frost. This is an important novel that reminds us that slavery did happen even today. Racism is always paramount in the news and justice has many definitions what is yours? Suicide or salvation in for freedom? A debut novel that is noteworthy and a must read. 
A father’s guilt, a father’s love and families that would never be the same and a small Caribbean Island that you will fall in love with including the people who are loyal to each other, humble in many respects and make the most delicious dishes that so many of you would want to experience and try.
Len Buonfiglio is tough, tenacious, impetuous and someone you want to see more of and on your side.
Fran Lewis: Just reviews
 

[T.G. Wolff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freedom Drop is an amateur sleuth mystery. New York transplant Len Buonfiglio carved out a business on the island of St. Pierre with a sports bar. Now the Marine veteran is finding a place in the community as the man people come to when they have problems. With a pot of island stew, Mrs. Johns hires Len to bring her jailed son home. A task that is easier said than done.

Bottom line: Freedom Drop is for you if you like amateur sleuths with an island flair

The island of St. Pierre has a fabled cliff called Freedom Drop. The stories of women and men leaping to the death rather than being enslaved have become island legend. A year ago, Deanna Gould took this plunge. Ruled a suicide, her mother continued to contest the finding and now new evidence has tour guide Rawle “Big Tree” Johns in custody. Big Tree said the woman went off and never came back. Deanna was more than a tourist, she was an investigative reporter. But just what she was investigating isn’t known and has just as many questions as her death.

The island setting of St. Pierre, a fictional former British colony, absolutely saturates this story. The island’s culture, food, and traditions give a unique pace to this story that can’t be found in urban mystery or small town cozies. Author Brian Silverman spent over 30 years writing about travel including the Caribbean. The depth of his knowledge and appreciation for the culture shine through.

Len Buonfiglio is our amateur and somewhat reluctant detective. He’s a bar owner but he is also a Marine vet and has trained and fought in the martial arts. Len is the kind of detective who is far more likely to fight his way out of a corner than shoot his way out. He is a likable hero. We learn he has a backstory, but not the details of how he is heralded as a hero and that cost him his wife and kids.

The supporting cast are interesting counterpoints. Tubby is Len’s business partner and the man who know everyone on the island. Superintendent McWilliams is the law but isn’t a waste like in other stories. The victims and bad guys tow close enough to the line that we are kept guessing about which side they are on. Is Big Tree being unfairly held or did he kill Deanna? Is the mother right or blinded by vengeful grief? Is Denton with the tourism authority supportive or using a situation to benefit himself?

The balance of action and plot worked for me. This is a mystery, there is the expected interviews and sleuthing. This also has strong thriller elements where Len is playing defense to protect his home, his daughter, and his own life.

The logic of the story, when standing at the end and looking to the front, mostly works. The actions Len takes in investigating Big Tree’s incarceration and Deanna’s depth are solid. It is the bad guys actions I have questions about.

I thoroughly enjoyed Freedom Drop. I binge read it in an afternoon and was disappointed to have to close the book on my St. Pierre friends aside. But not for long. I see there is a book 2 coming soon.