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Brady Coyne #21
Shadow of Death
Boston attorney Brady Coyne has just received a call from Jimmy D'Ambrosio, a Democratic party kingmaker and acting campaign manager for prosecutor Ellen Stoddard, who's running for a Senate seat. She's got a real shot at becoming the state's first woman to hold the post, except for one her husband Albert, a college professor and Brady's occasional fishing partner, has been acting strangely, and now he's disappeared altogether.
D'Ambrosio wonders if Albert's having a romantic dalliance with a coed, or if some other scandal is threatening to break. Either way, the campaign can't be involved, so he wants Coyne to investigate and keep any threatening skeletons locked firmly away in the closet. But after Coyne uncovers evidence of a murder, D'Ambrosio claims client-attorney privilege and threatens to have him disbarred if he leaks a word of the case to anyone. But Brady refuses to drop the case, and follows the trail to the little town of Southwick, New Hampshire, where an idyllic façade hides a terrible secret. And as the campaign draws to a climax, it seems that Brady Coyne has just been elected most likely to be the next to die.
D'Ambrosio wonders if Albert's having a romantic dalliance with a coed, or if some other scandal is threatening to break. Either way, the campaign can't be involved, so he wants Coyne to investigate and keep any threatening skeletons locked firmly away in the closet. But after Coyne uncovers evidence of a murder, D'Ambrosio claims client-attorney privilege and threatens to have him disbarred if he leaks a word of the case to anyone. But Brady refuses to drop the case, and follows the trail to the little town of Southwick, New Hampshire, where an idyllic façade hides a terrible secret. And as the campaign draws to a climax, it seems that Brady Coyne has just been elected most likely to be the next to die.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
21 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
William G. Tapply
79 books89 followersWilliam G. Tapply (1940–2009) was an American author best known for writing legal thrillers. A lifelong New Englander, he graduated from Amherst and Harvard before going on to teach social studies at Lexington High School. He published his first novel, Death at Charity’s Point, in 1984. A story of death and betrayal among Boston Brahmins, it introduced crusading lawyer Brady Coyne, a fishing enthusiast whom Tapply would follow through twenty-five more novels, including Follow the Sharks, The Vulgar Boatman, and the posthumously published Outwitting Trolls.
Besides writing regular columns for Field and Stream, Gray’s Sporting Journal, and American Angler, Tapply wrote numerous books on fishing, hunting, and life in the outdoors. He was also the author of The Elements of Mystery Fiction, a writer’s guide. He died in 2009, at his home in Hancock, New Hampshire.
Besides writing regular columns for Field and Stream, Gray’s Sporting Journal, and American Angler, Tapply wrote numerous books on fishing, hunting, and life in the outdoors. He was also the author of The Elements of Mystery Fiction, a writer’s guide. He died in 2009, at his home in Hancock, New Hampshire.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 18, 2018
The twentieth (or twenty-first, depending on how your counting) Brady Coyne novel finds the Boston attorney much more settled than ever before. He has a new home, a live-in girlfriend, and a new dog named Henry. However, his serene existence is interrupted when he gets an early-morning phone call from a political fixer who's managing the Senate campaign of a woman named Ellen Stoddard. Ellen's mother is one of Brady's clients, and Ellen's husband, Albert, is one of Brady's occasional fishing buddies.
The senate campaign is coming into the home stretch and of late, Albert has been acting "weirdly." Now he's disappeared altogether and Ellen has no idea where he might be. Obviously, this could cause problems for the campaign. The campaign manager, Jimmy D'Ambrosio, wants Brady to discretely hire a private investigator to figure out where in the hell Albert is and what he's been up to, so that they can contain the damage, if necessary.
Brady hires a friend name Gordon Cahill who begins digging into the case. The investigation takes Cahill to a tiny town named Southwick in rural New Hampshire. Cahill calls Brady and requests a meeting so that Cahill can bring Brady up to date. Shortly thereafter, the State Police contact Brady to tell him that Cahill has been murdered.
Brady is bound by attorney-client privilege, and as much as he might want to, he can't reveal to the police who his client is or what he was working on. This leaves Brady to investigate the matter himself, and off he goes to Southwick. Every seasoned reader of crime fiction understands that when the protagonist takes off to one of these quiet, scenic, quaint, little rural towns, things will not remain quiet and quaint for very long. In short order, Brady will find himself in the middle of a perplexing mystery and in grave danger, and he will need all of his wits to extricate himself from the situation.
This is a very good entry in the series, and by now Brady Coyne is like an old friend. It's good to see him a bit more settled; one can only hope that he will remain so.
The senate campaign is coming into the home stretch and of late, Albert has been acting "weirdly." Now he's disappeared altogether and Ellen has no idea where he might be. Obviously, this could cause problems for the campaign. The campaign manager, Jimmy D'Ambrosio, wants Brady to discretely hire a private investigator to figure out where in the hell Albert is and what he's been up to, so that they can contain the damage, if necessary.
Brady hires a friend name Gordon Cahill who begins digging into the case. The investigation takes Cahill to a tiny town named Southwick in rural New Hampshire. Cahill calls Brady and requests a meeting so that Cahill can bring Brady up to date. Shortly thereafter, the State Police contact Brady to tell him that Cahill has been murdered.
Brady is bound by attorney-client privilege, and as much as he might want to, he can't reveal to the police who his client is or what he was working on. This leaves Brady to investigate the matter himself, and off he goes to Southwick. Every seasoned reader of crime fiction understands that when the protagonist takes off to one of these quiet, scenic, quaint, little rural towns, things will not remain quiet and quaint for very long. In short order, Brady will find himself in the middle of a perplexing mystery and in grave danger, and he will need all of his wits to extricate himself from the situation.
This is a very good entry in the series, and by now Brady Coyne is like an old friend. It's good to see him a bit more settled; one can only hope that he will remain so.
December 28, 2017
This is a very enjoyable series. I particularly enjoyed the last few because he ceased seeing the friend who wiped her lips and patted her stomach after EVERY MEAL! Generally well plotted and the writing is getting better and better, though our hero still has a problem with women. One of his girlfriends more or less spells out exactly what is troubling her in their relationship and her solution to the problem and he STILL muses that he will "never understand women"!!!!!!!!!!
January 27, 2023
(2 1/2). This is one of the weaker Brady books in the series. But bad Brady is better than a whole lot of other stuff. We have much more devotion to Brady’s domestic situation than usual, and almost no office interaction at all. We do have a pretty good, and mostly believable story. Great New England roots, and a couple of pretty solid twists to take us to our grand finale. I only have a few more of these to go with one hole that is about to be filled. I will stick with Brady to the end. Pretty good stuff.
September 3, 2007
SHADOW OF DEATH (Amateur Sleuth/Lawyer-New England-Cont) – G+
William G. Tapply - 20th in series
St. Martin's Minotaur, 2001- Paperback
Attorney Brady Coyne has been hired by the campaign manager of Democratic Senate hopeful Ellen Stoddard to locate her husband. However, when Coyne hires an investigator who is then murdered, Coyne decides to find out himself why his friend died and where is the husband.
*** I'd not read Tapply prior to this but didn't feel lost in the series. I very much enjoyed the characters, the fact that Coyne is ethical, and the fact that we didn't spend any time in the courtroom. The sense of place and dialogue were excellent. I knew who the killers were very early into the story but not the motive behind it all, and there was a good twist at the end. While I didn't find it and outstanding read, I certainly enjoyed it enough to give others in the series a try.
William G. Tapply - 20th in series
St. Martin's Minotaur, 2001- Paperback
Attorney Brady Coyne has been hired by the campaign manager of Democratic Senate hopeful Ellen Stoddard to locate her husband. However, when Coyne hires an investigator who is then murdered, Coyne decides to find out himself why his friend died and where is the husband.
*** I'd not read Tapply prior to this but didn't feel lost in the series. I very much enjoyed the characters, the fact that Coyne is ethical, and the fact that we didn't spend any time in the courtroom. The sense of place and dialogue were excellent. I knew who the killers were very early into the story but not the motive behind it all, and there was a good twist at the end. While I didn't find it and outstanding read, I certainly enjoyed it enough to give others in the series a try.
August 3, 2011
Brady's friend Ellen is running for US Senator from Massachusetts, and her campaign manager asks Brady to follow Ellen's husband Albert, a history professor at Tufts, because he is suddenly acting weird. Brady hires an ex-cop private eye who is soon found burned in his car after an auto accident (after his tire is shot with a shotgun). Brady feels responsible, and starts trying to find Albert, who has disappeared. As usual, Brady gets himself into dangerous situations and soon another person Brady has talked with is murdered, after Brady deduces things might be because of something that happened decades ago.
January 27, 2013
Brady Coyne, a clone of Spenser except a lawyer, is hired to find out what the husband of an aspiring politician may be up to: he has been reported to be "acting weird". As usual, the story is a mix of humor and intrigue as Brady is led down a twisted path to the answers. The story takes place primarily in a small town in New Hampshire with all the characters and history that are often found in those quiet, peaceful villages we've all driven through. Isn't there a saying, beware of the quiet ones? Enjoy yet another in this series.
August 16, 2009
Excellent; Continuing character: Brady Coyne; when lawyer takes on task of finding aspiring politician's husband, the investigator he hires is murdered in a car wreck/fire, causing Coyne to take it personally and investigate further.
February 24, 2009
I like the characters that Mr. Tapply creates. I was successful in guessing some of the plot of this book, but certainly not all and that made it enjoyable.
September 3, 2013
Well-written, a rip-snortin' pageturner!
March 26, 2015
Didn't see this one coming. Great mystery.
October 24, 2017
Amazing how he keeps spitting out quality books all with the same formula, i never tire of them.
June 12, 2022
Over a lifetime of reading, mostly in the mystery and thriller genre, we’ve particularly enjoyed quite a few long-running series: from the likes of the Hardy Boys and Nero Wolfe to the trio of stars by Robert B. Parker. More recently, Lucas Davenport, JP Beaumont, Jack Reacher, JD Robb, Hamish Macbeth, and Kate Burkholder (and no doubt some others) have provided many an entertaining session. Indeed our discovery of William Tapply’s 28-novel Brady Coyne series during the pandemic has added another enjoyable protagonist to the list of favorites above. Coyne is a Boston-area concierge attorney to the wealthy, whose investigative work of various mysteries posed by his clientele are invariably engaging and suspenseful. To us, “Shadow of Death” (21st in the set) was no exception.
Brady is hired to find out why a senatorial candidate’s husband is acting weird. He hires a good friend who is a real PI, and soon a related death has Brady on the hunt about what happened. The clever plot and twisty thrilling ending was nothing short of great fun. Meanwhile, in his personal life, always a bit of a ladies man, our hero has interestingly really settled down with his current love partner Evie. Our only regret is that just a few more stories remain to polish off the set. Onward!
Brady is hired to find out why a senatorial candidate’s husband is acting weird. He hires a good friend who is a real PI, and soon a related death has Brady on the hunt about what happened. The clever plot and twisty thrilling ending was nothing short of great fun. Meanwhile, in his personal life, always a bit of a ladies man, our hero has interestingly really settled down with his current love partner Evie. Our only regret is that just a few more stories remain to polish off the set. Onward!
September 26, 2018
Shadow of death
Brady found is a Boston lawyer who representatives himself caught up in a murder case. Then he becomes a detective , investigated the murder and identifies the murderer or murderers. The cases are all set in Boston but The stories cover a wide death of new england.
Brady found is a Boston lawyer who representatives himself caught up in a murder case. Then he becomes a detective , investigated the murder and identifies the murderer or murderers. The cases are all set in Boston but The stories cover a wide death of new england.
January 8, 2023
Another great story featuring Boston attorney Brady Coyne, as the burnt body of a private investigator he has hired gets found in a car crash. Client confidentiality prevents disclosure to the police and Brady is driven to start his own dogged pursuit of the case. Well written as usual.
December 11, 2019
Very well written, great descriptions and characters.
May 25, 2025
You can't go wrong reading a Brady Coyne mystery! Timeless, especially now that he has a cell phone butI dod prefer him working old school.
October 7, 2015
#20 in the Brady Coyne series. Goodreads lists this as #21 but I count the Brady Coyne / JW Jackson novels as a separate series.
#20 - Boston attorney Brady Coyne, at a friend's request, looks into the odd behavior of Albert Stoddard, the husband of a woman who hopes to become the first female U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Suspecting that more than a simple distaste for electioneering may be behind Stoddard's withdrawal from helping his wife campaign, Coyne enlists a PI he knows, Gordon Cahill, to dig up any dirt and pull the poison before any scandal becomes public. The detective quickly, and suspiciously, turns up dead, the victim of a fiery apparent car accident. Guided by a few tidbits of information Cahill had provided, the lawyer again turns gumshoe and follows clues to a secluded New Hampshire cabin that Stoddard may have used. Soon violence and murder disrupt the simple life of rustic Southwick, N.H.
#20 - Boston attorney Brady Coyne, at a friend's request, looks into the odd behavior of Albert Stoddard, the husband of a woman who hopes to become the first female U.S. senator from Massachusetts. Suspecting that more than a simple distaste for electioneering may be behind Stoddard's withdrawal from helping his wife campaign, Coyne enlists a PI he knows, Gordon Cahill, to dig up any dirt and pull the poison before any scandal becomes public. The detective quickly, and suspiciously, turns up dead, the victim of a fiery apparent car accident. Guided by a few tidbits of information Cahill had provided, the lawyer again turns gumshoe and follows clues to a secluded New Hampshire cabin that Stoddard may have used. Soon violence and murder disrupt the simple life of rustic Southwick, N.H.
January 27, 2013
It's been many tears since I read a Taooly book, and I couldn't remember if I enjoyed them or not. So, I picked this one at random from the library and was pleasantly surprised. The characters were OK and the plot was interesting. The book moved along ay a reasonable speed. The final twist didn't ring true (in the make-believe world), but other than that things were reasonably consistent. I'll b picking another Tapply book to read.
January 25, 2012
I enjoy teh Brady Coyne series. YOu can just about read them in any order.
October 17, 2012
321 pgs
October 19, 2012
working my way through all of Tapply's Coyne books - always a fun and easy read
November 11, 2012
See Mary Whipple's review at MostlyFiction.com:
http://mostlyfiction.com/sleuths/tapp...
http://mostlyfiction.com/sleuths/tapp...
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews