Zeke Edison Books in Order

Zeke Edison enters the page with an advantage and a problem. The advantage is size. Before he became a private investigator, he played middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears, and people usually notice him before he says a word. The problem is that he is new to the detective business, which means he is still figuring out how to read clients, judge danger, and decide when a story is too strange to believe.

Then Kill Me Twice hands him a story that is very hard to believe.

A young woman named Paulette Mallory comes to Zeke for help because she believes a mob connected lawyer is going to kill her. That would be enough trouble on its own. Then she tells him how she knows, the man already murdered her aunt, and Paulette believes she was that aunt in a previous life. Flynn uses that setup well. Zeke is skeptical, as most readers would be, but he can also see that Paulette is frightened for real. So he does what a decent investigator does. He starts looking.

The book moves through shady Chicago politics, mob pressure, crooked and honest cops, and the kind of bruisers who think intimidation is a complete argument. Zeke has help from George A. Black and Regina Green, friends who are as ready as he is to push back when things turn rough. That gives the story a team feel without softening Zeke's role at the center. He may be a rookie in this line of work, but he is not timid, and he is not easy to shove aside.

What makes the Zeke Edison setup interesting is the balance of tones. On one level it is a straight urban thriller with hit men, city influence, and an investigator learning the trade the hard way. On another, Flynn lets in just enough oddness to keep you wondering whether the case might be stranger than Zeke wants to admit. That tension gives the story its flavor.

If you want a Joseph Flynn series with a more street-level feel, less Washington, more Chicago muscle and improvisation, Zeke Edison is the place to look. Even from one novel, the character comes through clearly, big, smart, game for a fight, and just unsettled enough by his first client to keep the pages moving.