This is a promising start to a new series.

A quick read. Based in Providence, Rogue Island, Liam Mulligan is an intrepid reporter for the local newspaper investigating a series of suspicious fires, likely arson. When it appears that the neighborhood is targeted for redevelopment, Liam uses all his resources (some legal, most not) to bring the perpetrators to justice, but manages to get himself and others hurt or killed along the way. ( )

Rogue Island is a decent story of an old-school style journalist investigating a serial arsonist in Providence. I was drawn to this since I'm a Rhode Islander and the praise on the book was high.

The protagonist, Mulligan, is a cliche of most of the detective/journos in fiction; divorced, drinker, gruff, you know the type. Nothing about him was unique or added a depth of character that was a wrinkle on the stereotype. He's not a bad protagonist but we've seen him 100 times before and by better authors.

I enjoyed the local references and some of the minor characters. The story itself was interesting but not very clever. I figured out why the fires were being set much earlier than the reveal, so it was a bit of a let down.

I feel that the last part of the story was really rushed. It went from figuring out what was going on, to "justice" being served, to the end, all glossed over too quickly. One of the central characters in the story dies - this is not a spoiler because it's telegraphed from a mile away - and the way it's revealed is entirely casually. There's no involvement from Mulligan in what happens to his friend, one minute this person is in the hospital and then we find out in a few pages that weeks have gone by and the person died.

Considerable effort was placed on the relationship between Mulligan and his friend, yet it meant nothing to the resolution of the story or development of the character. There were several other unresolved threads that the sudden ending of the book seemed to give short shrift to. Maybe these are picked up in a sequel, but I don't think I'll read any more stories from this series.

In summary, not bad but not enough to interest me in the further adventures of Mulligan. ( )

BOTTOM-LINE:
A decent introduction of a new sleuth
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
A reporter, Liam Mulligan, investigates a series of arsons around his hometown.
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WHAT I LIKED:
Mulligan makes an intriguing sleuth, and he has lots of interesting characters running around the woodwork. He is far from Sherlock Holmes, nor is he Spenser for Hire taking on the tough guys. A bit more Donald Lam or Trace…slightly incompetent, but not Plum-funny. His partners-in-sleuthing are generally good.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
There are quite a few "foreshadowing" hints dropped, and it made me figure me well-in-advance sometimes when certain things were likely to happen and how. Although, to be fair, a couple never happened (red herrings). And I thought the bad guys were all relative obvious for the overall plot and motive.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media. ( )

A Providence, RI reporter, Liam S.A. Mulligan has a love of the Red Sox and a penchant for getting himself into trouble with his nose and his mouth. Great debut from DeSilva ( )