Harlan Coben turns the standard Holmes-Watson dynamic on its head. His Watson is Myron Bolitar: sports agent, very amateur detective, but a good guy who wants to do the right thing and almost always bumbles his way toward it. Coben writes in the third person, but primarily from Bolitar’s perspective.

His Holmes character is Windsor Horne Lockwood III, a remarkably competent – and violent – sidekick who has a very black and white moral streak, and who – for some reason – is devoted to Bolitar. These two have combined in some eight adventures, of which the newly reissued DROP SHOT is the second in the series.

Bolitar has a new tennis phenom as a client: Duane Richwood, who is steadily climbing through the ranks at the prestigious U.S. Open. Things seem to be going well until a gunshot is heard. A woman has been murdered.

It turns out it’s Valerie Simpson, a former young tennis star whose light somehow was extinguished at an early age. Of course, the cops connect Simpson to Bolitar, and the heat is on.

As the investigation develops, the one crime seems to blossom into others, and to be sinisterly connected with the murder of a senator’s son six years ago. As Bolitar bulls his way through the china shop of suspects and interested parties, Lockwood is always there to smooth entry to high society, or to obliterate an implacable enemy.

All of Coben’s Bolitar books are short, swift reads, filled with brisk dialogue, hectic action and relatively intriguing plots. This one is a bit of a letdown because you see the big twist way too early, but if you like sports mysteries – and there just aren’t that many of them, strangely enough – and you need an entertaining read for a flight or a weekend night, then you can’t go wrong with Coben. –Mark Rose

Buy it at Amazon.

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• DEAL BREAKER by Harlan Coben
• MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA PRESENTS DEATH DO US PART: NEW STORIES ABOUT LOVE, LUST, AND MURDER edited by Harlan Coben