A Reason to Live

A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden
(Matthew Iden, 2012)
Format: audiobook via the author (narrated by Lloyd Sherr)

From Goodreads: "In the late nineties, a bad cop killed a good woman and DC Homicide detective Marty Singer watched the murderer walk out of the courtroom a free man. 

Twelve years later, the victim's daughter begs for help: the killer is stalking her now. But Marty has retired to battle cancer. A second shot at the killer--and a first chance at redemption--Marty has A Reason to Live."

Iden contacted me via twitter to see if I'd listen to his first Marty Singer mystery. I looked at the sample pages and was engaged enough to want to keep going, so I had him send me the audiobook. And I truly enjoyed the listen.

Singer is wry and fond of the sound of his own voice, but sharp and more compassionate than he would like to be. Like all the best retired detectives, he crosses lines but trades on his accumulated goodwill to keep out of trouble - and being the cop who retired due to cancer gives him more goodwill than some of his former compatriots would like to grant him. The mystery is well-constructed, twisty but not trickstery, and I liked the way Singer comes to rely on others not just physically but emotionally and mentally, too. He grows, even as the cancer depletes him. It's a satisfying journey.

Sherr is a new-to-me narrator. His voice has grit and gravity, very suitable for Singer, and he carries the listener very ably through the tense moments. I wish his female voices were more differentiated, but otherwise I found listening to him for 8 hours a pleasure.