I am going to start with the fact that I really liked the main character, Clipper, in this book!  He is smart, a good guy, hard worker, dedicated and honest while being very skilled with a gun.  I also really liked the “history” part of the story.  The book is broken into two parts, the first is the background part of the story set in 1937, the second takes place today.

In the northeast, there is a notorious gang of criminals who have successfully robbed high dollar jewelry stories and escaped with millions of dollars worth of jewels.  The Edgewink gang has evaded the police and FBI for a long time but when the FBI gets solid intel that the gang will be in Bangor Maine, they set up a plan to catch the members of the gang.  Unfortunately, the whole thing becomes nothing but a shoot out and all the members are killed except the leader, Lester Edgewink.  After taking several bullets and multiple surgeries, Lester is never quite the same and must spend the rest of his days in the State Hospital.  But where are the jewels and all the money?

70 years later, Detective Clipper is called out to a murder scene where a local software developer is found dead at home.  The man’s wife has recently left him, making her the most obvious suspect, but there is something about her story that Clipper believes.  However, the proverbial thorn in your side demands that Clipper ‘s investigation must take a back seat to the Founder’s Day re-enactment of the Edgewink gang’s demise.  

Stockford has written a tangled web of secrets that unfold with ease in this fascinating story.