In the second Mac McClellan mystery (the first is Deadly Catch), E. Michael Helms's retired Marine protagonist finds himself investigating a ghost. While out together on a date, Mac's girlfriend Kate is certain she sees her ex Wes Harrison in the theater lobby. The only problem is that Wes has been dead for a dozen years--he and two others disappeared at sea in a boating accident.
Recognizing that "no B-movie in Hollywood would buy into [the] scenario," Mac agrees, nonetheless, to explore--with the help of Kate's private investigator uncle, Frank Hightower--the possibility that Wes is still alive. Mac sifts through Wes's past, shaking loose an eclectic group of shady characters with ties to the former jewelry store employee: the head of a Christian missionary organization, the director of personnel at a Texas orphanage and the president of a private investment partnership. As Mac fits the oddly shaped pieces of his puzzle together and a clear image begins to form, those in the picture grow more determined to stop him.
Deadly Ruse is a well-constructed mystery full of twists and red herrings. Helms keeps the stakes and the suspense high with ripped-from-the-headlines crimes involving blood diamonds, drugs and gambling. The pacing occasionally lags, due in part to the amount of exposition, and Helms could strengthen the first-person narrative with more showing and less telling. But fans of the traditional PI novel will still find plenty to enjoy in this dedicated military man turned investigator. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts