A Lonesome Place for Dying

Starred review from March 18, 2024
First-timer Chase’s standout procedural saddles newly minted police chief Ethan Brand with an overwhelming first few days on the job. When Ethan, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, takes over the department from his friend and mentor, Frank Keough, he expects relatively smooth sailing in the sleepy town of Blaine, Wash.—an expectation quickly shattered when he receives a death threat at his home and is called to the scene of a possible murder during his first day on the job. His lack of allies doesn’t help: Blaine’s mayor thinks Ethan’s incompetent; Brenda Lee Page, the department’s top deputy, wanted his job for herself; and Mal Keough, Frank’s loose-cannon cop son, proves difficult to rein in. Then another body turns up, after which a witness to the first murder goes missing, and locals report seeing a strange, unfamiliar figure stalking around town. As Ethan investigates—and tussles with a drug-smuggling local crime family in the process—he works to suppress his own scandalous secrets, lest they derail his career and stop him from preventing further violence. Chase throws a lot of balls in the air, and he juggles them like a seasoned pro, managing to carve out a distinctly memorable protagonist in the process. It’s an auspicious debut. Agent: Chris Casuccio, Westwood Creative Artists.