Dark Night of the Soul by Gary Reilly

Brendan AKA Murph is a cab driver in Colorado. Having been a 14 year veteran of the cab company to support his 4 day a week Gilligan’s Island/writing habit, he’s seen most of what goes on. But one day, everything piles up. First, a little old lady with a hundred dollar bill tries to pay him in pennies. He has to cash a check he was given as payment and ends up picking up a bank robber (unwittingly) and drops him off. He doesn’t clear his daily take of the day, as his cab stops working. And then, he gets brought in because the bank robber is in the hospital. The next day, he goes to try and speak with the woman who tried to pay him in pennies, for the principle of the matter and she later has a heart attack. As the bodies, and the questions, start to pile up around him, Murph will need to put his detection skills to the test as he tries to make an honest living (and do math) in one of the most thankless positions on the planet.

It was great to read an Asphalt Warrior novel by Gary Reilly. Unfortunately, as he has passed in, it is hard to imagine that there are a lot left (he did leave some notes behind for further novels, thankfully), which is sad for those who have not yet heard of the awesome character, Brendan Murphy.

As always, I enjoyed this immensely. The voice and style of Murph are something that most readers will have a hard time getting out of their heads anytime soon. I wholely recommend reading the series in order, even though it may not be necessary, it is nice to read them in order (at least, my organized mind liked them better that way–he does occasionally refer to something from a previous novel).

It is really awesome to see Reilly’s (through Murph) love of the city of Denver. Each of the novels is almost like a love letter to the city, itself. And it makes me want to visit–sans the mysteries and maybe sans the taxis! LOL. Pick up a copy of this at your favorite retailer (I got this under $2 on Kindle!).

Challenges: Dark Night of the Soul satisfies the following challenges:
LEP Reading Challenge: 47. Written by an author who is deceased