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On the anniversary of his wife Jenni's death, Max Rupert is called to the scene of the murder of an attractive redhead named Jennavieve Pruitt. While the similarities between Jenni and Jennavieve are superficial, Max is caught off guard from the very beginning of the case. It doesn't help matters that Max and Ben Pruitt, Jennavieve's husband, have had a serious run-in in the past. When all clues seem to point to Ben, Max has no trouble pursuing the leads and assuming guilt, but his friend Boady Sanden complicates matters by taking Ben as a client—and being as sure of his innocence as Matt is of Ben's guilt. Add the sudden appearance of a possible clue to Jenni's murder, and Max is thoroughly distracted and completely at odds with his old friend which leads to hard personal decisions both on and off the job and stretches the men's friendship to the breaking point.
A combination of a police procedural and a courtroom drama, Allen Esken's THE HEAVENS MAY FALL alternates between Max's perspective and Boady's, taking the reader through both the investigation and trial. Esken's heightens the suspense by using both perspectives, and throws in plenty of twists along the way, ensuring that the surprises keep happening until the very end.
While the mystery itself is interesting, the characters and their struggles are what really keep the reader involved. Esken's does a particularly good job of showing Max's very human struggles, and Boady has plenty of issues, too, making them both deeply developed, interesting characters. We also get a significant amount of background on both men, further rounding them out. Other characters are less well drawn, primarily because we see less of them, but they do make enough of an appearance to keep the reader guessing about where the truth lies. What works less well is the ending itself which doesn't ring quite true. However, it does set things up well for Max's continuing investigation into his wife's murder, so the promise of another Max Rupert mystery makes the ending of this one a bit more palatable.
Overall, THE HEAVENS MAY FALL is an intriguing read with enough suspense to keep the pages turning and enough questions to make the reader feel that the main characters truly struggle with the hard decisions they have to make. In the end, both are admirable in spite of—or perhaps because of—their mistakes and their humanity.
§ Meredith Frazier, a writer with a background in English literature, lives in Dallas, Texas
Reviewed by Meredith Frazier, November 2016
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