Hud Matthews leaves behind his career as a Detroit cop after being shot. His grandmother has died, leaving her lakeside cottage to him. So he returns to Demmie Lake where he spent his childhood. The lakeside town holds good and bad memories for Hud. He remembers summers spent on the lake helping his Grandmother run her shop selling trinkets and t-shirts to tourists. But still haunting him is the memory of his mother's disappearance. One night when he was 8-years old she got dressed for an evening out, kissed him goodbye....and never came home.

Hud returns to Demmie Lake to recouperate, then joins the local police force. His boss warns him to just do his job and not start digging into his mother's disappearance. When a young woman's body is found on the shore of the lake, Hud's detective skills are needed and he rises to the occasion. But, he never forgets the cold case that haunts his every day....what happened to his mother?

The setting and the tone of this book are very dark. It's off-season at the lake. Rainy, cold and depressing. Hud's mood is also cold and depressing as he investigates shocking murders in the small lakeside community, and also looks into the disappearance of his mother.

The pace was a bit slow for me. The story is well-written for the most part, just slow to develop. And, I have to admit that I didn't like the ending. Was it realistic? Probably. But just a bit of a letdown. After reading all the build-up to the end, I expected a thrilling close. It never really materialized. The tone and pace was low key to the very last page. And the last page....... Well. No spoilers from me......read it, and see what you think. I found myself talking back to the book as I shut it and logged in to write my review.

Good book. Well-written. Interesting plot. Just not my cup of tea.

Readers who enjoy police procedurals and murder mysteries will enjoy this book.

Larry Sweazy also writes the Marjorie Trumaine mystery series. Find out more about the author and his books on his website: http://www.larrydsweazy.com
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Detroit has nothing for him now and Hud Mathews has come home to work for his small hometown police force. It is tough to come back as the area holds so many very painful memories as well as unresolved questions. Some locals are unhappy that Hud is back as it means somebody else is in their way up the ladder of local law enforcement. Some are unhappy because Hud’s return means he will again try to find out why his mother disappeared all those years ago.

Detective Hud Mathews’ first case begins three days after he is hired and it is a difficult one. A young woman, shot in the back of the head, is found dead on the shoreline of the local lake. She may have been executed there or dumped after being killed elsewhere. Corner Bill Flowers, who has been around for decades, isn’t sure as he doesn’t see any obvious powder burns at the impact point. The autopsy should tell him more.

According to a local resident who comes forward to talk to the investigators at the crime scene, the deceased woman was a mom to an eight-year-old boy. The boy is missing and the witness is very concerned for obvious reasons. Detective Mathews and Deputy Moran go to the trailer where the family was staying and do not find him there. Detective Hud Mathews has some ideas where the boy is as he grew up in the area and roamed far and wide to avoid stress at home. There is a boy to be found and that comes before the current murder or the case he has never been able to solve--- the disappearance of his mother.

Where I Can See You is a first rate mystery full of complicated characters, dark secrets, and deep emotion. The author has created a diverse cast of complicated and very real characters that are each doing their best to survive their pasts while functioning in the present. As the pages pass, readers are drawn into a dark and complicated cast of folks that are hiding much and yet slowly giving away everything they hold dear.

This is one of those books that is extremely difficult to review without giving away too much. Where I Can See You is one of those books that really must be read and will surprise you throughout. It works from both a reader standpoint as well as a writer standpoint as there is a very nice storytelling technique used throughout the book that works exceptionally well. Intense and compelling, Where I Can See You is highly recommended.

For another perspective, check out Lesa Holstine’s review from last January.

Where I Can See You
Larry D. Sweazy
http://www.larrydsweazy.com
Seventh Street Books
http://www.seventhstreetbooks.com
2017
ISBN# 978-1-63388-211-9
Paperback (eBook also available)
255 Pages
$15.95

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2017 ( )

Where I Can See You by Larry D. Sweazy is a highly recommended police procedural - and a man looking for past answers.

Hud Matthews has accepted a position as a homicide detective somewhere where he said he'd never return to - his home town, a decaying vacation/destination lakeside community. After recovering from a gunshot wound while with the Detroit PD, Hud has accepted a position from a childhood buddy who, like his father before him, is now the police chief, Paul Burke. Hud is still haunted by the disappearance of his mother. When he was eight years old she walked out to get into a big, shiny black car and never returned. Hus spent his childhood searching for her, with Gee, his grandmother. Now Gee has passed away and Hud is back, still wondering what happened to his mother years earlier.

When the body of Pamela Lynn Sizemore is found half in and half out of Demmie Lake, Hud's skills are needed on the investigation. It appears that Pamela was cooking meth and a drug dealer, but as bodies and questions mount, the answers may not be as simple as a drug deal gone badly. Even as Hud works on the current investigation, he is still trying to find out what happened to his mother years earlier. And it appears that the locals aren't exactly forthcoming with answers to his questions on either case.

Sweazy keeps the gloom and doom atmosphere heavy in this investigation, and not only because it is set in the fall. The former resort community is decaying and has lost all of its former charm. People are struggling to get by and a series of murders is not good for what little business they have left. Hud's investigation into the murders and his mother's disappearance seems to have upset more than one person in the community.

In between current chapters are transcripts from Hud being interrogated by an anonymous person. At first you think it might be the therapist he had to talk to in order to be cleared for work, but soon it seems that something else is going on that we aren't privy to yet, something to do with his mother. It helps keep the tension up as the current investigations continue. Hud is a flawed, well-developed character. The ending surprised me and was well done.

The only problem I had with Where I Can See You was Hud's interaction with Goldie. It was a gratuitous sex scene that really didn't add anything to the plot. After he had been gone for so many years and since he had no personal relationship with her in his youth, the immediate I-see-you-and-am-hot-for-you-now sex seemed stupid and absurd for such a analytical, deliberate man. Sure he has flaws, but I didn't think foolishness was among them. It would have been more believable if she had flirted with him and he reciprocated in kind, but kept her at a distance, knowing she might have information he needed in the future.

Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/on1/4/17
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1860135255 ( )

When Hud Matthews was 8 years old, his mother got dressed up & went out for a night on the town. She never came back. He was raised by his grandmother Gee, the only family he had in the small lakeside community. She did her best but Hud grew up haunted by his loss, the not knowing.

After high school, he fled to Detroit & started a new life as a cop. Now a shootout under murky circumstances has left him with bullet wounds & a lot of time on his hands. But the biggest blow is news of Gee’s death. He heads back to deal with her estate & the ghost that has been waiting for his return.

When chief of police Paul Burke offers him a job, Hud sees an opportunity to dig into his mother’s disappearance & find some peace. It’s time.

But the sleepy little town is jolted awake when a young woman’s body is discovered by the lake. And she won’t be the last.

Game on. We follow Hud as the investigation takes some nasty turns & he’s tested by new colleagues. Murder is rare in these parts & Hud brings experience to the job but he’s not exactly welcomed with open arms. His past is the elephant in the room & you get the feeling several of these characters know much more than they’re willing to tell. Hud’s questions are met with stony silence & slammed doors. His frustration is palpable & it’s in these moments we catch glimpses of the little boy who just wants his mom to come home.

He’s also trying to reconcile his memories of a placid, sunlit resort town with the present day reality of a place hit hard by the economic downturn & people hardened by shuttered businesses & dead end jobs. It’s interesting to note we’re never given the name of the town. Instead, the author uses well defined characters & descriptions of crumbling buildings to give the place its identity. It creates an uneasy undercurrent that runs through the story, of something lurking just around the corner.

The author does a great job of describing small town life where everyone knows your business & secrets are handed down through generations like the family silver. Finding a killer isn’t easy when no one will talk & there are more than a few surprises in store as we gradually learn the connections between past & present.

There are passages scattered through the story where Hud is being questioned by an anonymous interrogator. It’s not immediately clear when or where this is taking place & it’s only after the hair raising finish that we understand the significance of these sessions.

This is a richly atmospheric book chock full of suspense & misdirection with a MC who will break your heart. Hud is a smart, strong yet flawed man nursing an old wound, reminiscent of Reed Farrel Coleman’s character of Gus Murphy from “Where it Hurts”. It’s an engrossing, well paced read that keeps you guessing & although the killer is unmasked, not everything is neatly tied up. The ending makes it clear there is much more to Hud’s story & I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for book #2. ( )