When I first saw the synopsis for The Mongoose Deception, I almost started whining, "Uhhh … the Kennedy assassination … doesn't sound like fun." But it turned out to be well-plotted and especially rich in characterization.

In the best tradition of conspiracy-novels, the prologue gives a glimpse in early 1963 of a shadowy covert organization that pulls the strings worldwide; apparently Winston Churchill once called these men the High Cabal. Who but these guys have the clout to order a hit on the President?

Chapter 1 opens in the present-day viewpoint of an especially vivid minor character: Cornelius McPherson, the caretaker of the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel: one of the largest automobile tunnels in the world.

McPherson could have been a bland minor character. Instead the author lavishes some wonderful quirks upon him. McPherson likes to talk to himself. Constantly. He's perfectly sane, but just has this odd habit. Even better, he sings hymns and chants old jump-rope rhymes.

Since the poor devil is about to retire, you know something weird is going to happen. Sure enough, an earthquake occurs and shuts down the tunnel. McPherson investigates a breach in the tunnel wall, and finds a body-part: an arm that he identifies by its tattoo as belonging to Ducane, a miner who disappeared off the job 35 years ago.

Part II takes us to November 1963 as Ducane waits for his Mafia job to get the green-light from Ornasetti, an up-and-coming creep from Denver, CO. The Mafia has Ducane lined up as one of two snipers who may be tasked to shoot President Kennedy as the president tours Chicago. The Mafia has already scrapped a possible assassination in Tampa FL; if Chicago doesn't look like a go, well then there's always Dallas.

Well, Chicago gets cancelled so Ducane returns home to New Iberia, LA – without even getting paid! The days drag on to November 22nd and the Kennedy assassination happens in Dallas. Ducane decides to head for Denver to blackmail Ornasetti with his knowledge of the assassination plot.

This brings us to Part III, Denver CO in the present. Our hero C.J. Floyd stands in the basement of his friend Mario, and sorts through their inventory of antiques. Mario and Floyd run an online antiques business. But these two are not just any retailers.

Floyd is a black, 53 year-old Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Navy Cross for valor. He works as a bail-bondsman, bounty-hunter, and antiques dealer (in that order); and has starred in six previous mysteries in this series. Mario is an 83 year-old retired mobster who used to rule the Rocky Mountain region. Uncle of the slimy Ornasetti, he deliberately remained aloof from the Kennedy assassination project back in 1963. Now, he wants to live out his days in peace.

Floyd is fully aware of Mario's past, but believes his old friend has left that life behind. His good friend Julie, once his secretary and now a lawyer, doesn't trust Mario. She's not thrilled when Floyd involves her college-age son Damion in the antiques business as their computer consultant.

But even Floyd is startled and displeased when Mario gets an unexpected visit that afternoon from Pinkie Niedemeyer. Pinkie, the best hit-man in the business, owes a mysterious debt to Mario. Though uncomfortable standing in a basement full of antiques and speaking in front of an outsider like Floyd, Pinkie warns Mario about Ducane's arm that just turned up in the earthquake in the Eisenhower tunnel.

Apparently McPherson has already talked to the press. Neither Mario nor Pinkie stashed Ducane's body behind the tunnel wall 35 years ago, but they might get blamed anyway because of their mob association. Pinkie thinks Ornasetti popped Ducane, but the truth is much stranger.

What does this mean for Ornasetti? Well, he'll have to use his most psycho hit-man Maxie to clear up loose ends like McPherson. At the same time, he will want to lay the groundwork to frame his uncle Mario for involvement in the Kennedy assassination should word get out. Pinkie tells Mario to watch his back.

Well, that's what Floyd is for. Floyd isn't going to let anything happen to his friend. Soon Floyd and Pinkie are bumping into each other all over Denver as they each pursue the faint leads that might unravel who Ducane is and what happened to him 35 years ago. Sometimes they work against each other, and sometimes they end up on the same side.

A third player joins the mix: Lieutenant Cavalaris, a stubborn homicide cop with a bad stammer that acts up when he's frustrated. Cavalaris is another richly-drawn character, and it's a treat to see him knock heads with Floyd and Pinkie as the three of them begin to uncover a vast and powerful conspiracy.

Don't miss The Mongoose Deception! It is available on Amazon through this link: The Mongoose Deception (C J Floyd Mysteries)