Bitter Legacy (A Matt Royal Mystery)

By: H. Terrell Griffin
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: December 2010
ISBN: 978-1-933-51596-0
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: December 2010

As a fan of Wyatt’s Revenge, which was also written by Mr. Griffin in 2009, I was extremely happy to see another Matt Royal mystery come across my desk. Unfortunately, although there is a storyline throughout that is interesting, another also appears that leaves something to be desired.

For readers unfamiliar with the main character, Matt Royal is a former attorney, as well as a former member of the Special Forces in Vietnam. After quite a full, slightly frightening past, Matt settled down in Longboat Key, Florida where the most stressful parts of his life include fishing, eating, and drinking. (Ah…to be Matt Royal). As we begin our tale, Matt has just gotten home from a long sailing journey where he spent many relaxing days at sea with a beautiful woman who has gone back to her life in Europe. Not beside himself with tears over this, Matt is actually quite excited about getting back to his life of peaceful freedom. The information he finds out upon his return, however, is anything but peaceful and serene.

A sniper chose to shoot Matt’s dear friend, Logan Hamilton, in broad daylight on a busy Sarasota street. The man, thank goodness, survived the deadly attack, but a plan cooked up between him and Bill Lester, the police chief, has sent Logan into hiding so that the assassin can continue to think that he has succeeded in his work. As the story goes deeper down the ‘thriller’ avenue, more bodies pile up. Included in these new mysterious happenings are a lawyer who is working on authenticating an ancient document that deals with the Seminole Indians and their ‘stake’ in the state of Florida; a tourist who was left for dead; a very lethal biker gang; and, a lonely, isolated, eccentric billionaire who is extremely entertaining.

While he’s trying desperately to solve these mysteries and stay alive, Matt also finds that he, too, is a target but doesn’t know why. He also gets tied up with Jennifer Duncan, an extremely beautiful woman who is the newest member of the Longboat Key police force, who ends up being knee deep in his investigation.

As I said at the beginning of this review, I am a fan of Mr. Griffin’s book called Wyatt’s Revenge. This book featured the same characters that I fell in love with the first time around but, to me, this story was somehow lacking in substance. I did, however, really like a chapter that centered on Matt learning about evil that prepared the reader for a very well-written Vietnam experience. This experience in Matt Royal’s life really showed the difference between the guy with the pitchfork that the church tells people evil is all about, and actual real, live evil that the world gives out ten-fold.

Quill says: If you’re interested in a hard-to-solve mystery, this is definitely a book for you. Be aware, however, that there is a storyline that delves deeply into the Seminole Indians. Although I completely agree with the authors point of view regarding the horrible bias that still exists in the world today regarding the Seminoles, I don’t believe it added very much to the actual storyline that the author was shooting for. Alas, it became more of a “lesson” than a work of thrilling fiction.