False Guilt

by Peter Fritze

Paul Tews, a rising Toronto mergers and acquisitions lawyer, is on a leave of absence for anxiety. An invitation to Rome from a woman with whom he'd once had a close encounter seems like a perfect remedy. Instead he finds that all things captivating have an ugly side. Friends confess baffling secrets. An art collector leads a double life. Passion deceives. Paul must save himself from it all - and his past involvement with murder.

392 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2015

About the author

Peter Fritze practiced law as a solicitor in an Ontario government agency, partner in a major Toronto law firm and general counsel of a Canadian multinational. He’s now following his love of storytelling by writing suspense mysteries.

In April 2014, he self-published The Case for Killing. At a fictitious Toronto law firm, two plans for murder collide. In February 2015, he self-published False Guilt. A lawyer’s past involvement with murder follows him from Toronto to Rome.

Peter released his most recent mystery, Crook’s Hill, in February 2018. Alan Boltby yearns to be more than a workaholic lawyer. Confronted by insider trading, unexplained deaths and blame for a sordid family secret, he turns investigator. It’s the start of a new series featuring Alan Boltby and Sara Ramachandran.

Peter has lived in Toronto since being raised in Dundas, Ontario.

Reviews

[Angelika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ensemble Guilt
In his new crime novel Peter Fritze’s ensemble cast of Toronto characters intervene in their university pal’s downhill slide. When that pal is found with a bullet in his head, each friend feels guilt but only one is charged with murder. Did he do it?
We follow Fritze’s adept chiaroscuro romp through Toronto and Rome, gathering even more suspects than his university friends, before the mystery unravels fifteen years after the crime. Fritze’s Toronto climax is worthy of a detective thriller.
Did I say climax? Yes, indeed, Fritze builds to a satisfying plot climax. But, that’s not all that builds that way. Fritze crafts his sex scenes with fifty shades of heat. The reader follows the relationship of the accused and a mysterious Italian dancer with the same eagerness as that of the murder mystery.
While Mafioso and cultural theft take the plot a tad over the top, Fritze shows that there’s no crime in self-publication. His crisp writing, engaging characters and overall well-crafted plot demonstrate that the ‘mediation’ of publishing houses is no longer a sine qua non for launching great writing into the world.
False Guilt is a worthy addition to Fritze’s first self-published novel The Case for Killing.

[Peter Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of us seeking more than the traditional murder mystery there is False Guilt. Former Toronto lawyer Peter Fritze, in his second self-published book, delivers more plot structure and twists, more character development, more Toronto setting detail, and more of my favorite element in any story — an ordinary man’s search for redemption. All this is carried by a crisp writing style especially enjoyable for its imagery, from the freshly evocative to the fun, quirky and surprising. A novel that, once opened, is utterly worthy of sacrificing a night’s sleep.