Rich and Gone by W.F. Ranew

Red Farlow has retired from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and has set up as a Private Investigator. The case we meet him on is one that has him searching for 300 million dollars that has been misappropriated and hidden. Then, shortly after the money disappeared, so did Woody Cunningham. Follow the money they say...and so Red does but in so doing he also tried to locate Woody – dead or alive.

I really enjoyed looking over Red’s shoulder as he begins to follow leads that are presented as he works to unravel this case. His interactions with law enforcement, newspaper reporters and all the other people that became known as he pursued one lead after another were fascinating. In movies and on TV the case is wrapped up by the end of the show but this case took a bit of time, required trips to foreign countries, involved interactions with lethal characters, mentioned intriguing cases and characters from his past and gave me true insight into what it might be like to plod rather than whisk along while trying to unearth mysteries that would lead to a resolution by the end of the book. I would sometimes wonder what purpose a person might have in the story and be left dangling only to have that thread tied up neatly a few pages on. And, the book was definitely tied up by the end of the book and done so in a believable and interesting way.

What I liked:
* Red Farlow’s maturity, wisdom and character
* The first persona narration in Red’s voice
* The way information is presented in bits and tidily tied up in the end
* The supporting characters
* The fact that I would like to see the next book in this series when it is published

What I did not like:
* The people and events I was meant not to like

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars ( )