Incentive for Death: A Novel

by James Spoonhour

Overview

They all sold their life insurance policies to the same company— and now they’ re all dead. Mac and Oliver are on the case.
On a beautiful spring morning in Washington, D.C., a high-profile attorney is found dead in his office. McDermott “Mac” Burke and Oliver Shaw, homicide investigators for the Metropolitan Police Department, are called to investigate. There appear to be no signs of foul play, but there is also no obvious sign of a natural cause of death.

The detectives are perplexed until the medical examiner notices a tiny pin prick on the lawyer’s neck and theorizes that the man was injected with succinylcholine— aka “sux” — which is a common horse tranquilizer that dissipates quickly in the body.

As Mac and Oliver begin to look further, they discover that the lawyer had sold his life insurance policy to a large viatical company. Then, they realize that more deaths under mysterious circumstances have occurred among those who’ ve sold their policies to the same company.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608095766
Publisher:	Oceanview Publishing
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	1,083,260
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

James Spoonhour is a lifelong reader turned mystery writer. A graduate of the University of Nebraska and Georgetown University, James has worked in Special Investigations for the Air Force and was once assigned to the Pentagon. He then practiced civil litigation and appellate law in Orlando, Florida, and was later a law professor at the Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. Incentive for Death is his debut novel. James is an avid croquet player and lives in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

10/30/2023

Former lawyer Spoonhour’s lackluster debut traces a series of mysterious deaths in connection with a shady company that purchases life insurance policies. D.C. Metropolitan Police detectives Mac Burke and Oliver Shaw are dispatched to the offices of Gideon & McCaffery, an influential Washington law firm, after its managing partner, Weldon Van Damm, is found dead at his desk. A medical examiner notices the small puncture wound on Van Damm’s body and determines that someone injected him with a lethal substance, leading Burke and Shaw to launch a homicide inquiry. The plot thickens when another man drops dead at a local baseball game with a similar wound, and Burke and Shaw learn that both he and Van Damm had recently sold their life insurance policies to the same viatical firm. As they dig deeper, the pair links more deaths to the firm, and race to keep the body count from rising. Spoonhour fails to whip up much suspense from his premise, and the circumstances of several killings strain credulity. There’s little to distinguish this rote legal thriller from similar fare. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"An ominous tale about need and greed, the tension ratcheted up by a single question, ‘Are they really going to do that?’ Yes, they are. Enjoy this pulse-pounding treat.” —Steve Berry, New York Times best-selling author

“Incentive for Death bring an exhilarating dose of uniqueness to fans of crime fiction. The choice of victims – the murder weapon- law enforcement interactions – interpersonal circumstances. The action is explosive and intense as it plays out on the complicated stage of Washington D.C. A fascinating debut!” —Patricia Gussin, New York Times best-selling author

“With no apparent cause of death, it appears to be the perfect crime. Detectives McDermott ‘Mac’ Burke and Oliver Shaw aren’t buying it. As they meticulously investigate, other victims die. In Incentive for Death, it’s a race against time to unravel a sophisticated plot and stop the killings in this unique Washington, D.C. thriller.” —Shawn Wilson, author of Duplicity

“More than a finely honed detective procedural plump with investigative forensics, Incentive for Death delves into the lives of law enforcement personnel. What makes them tick, the overwhelming desire to take the bad guys—and gals—off the street. The concept of this phenomenal mystery ‘hard-boils’ to a simple phrase: the need for greed.” —Bookreporter

“A riveting, original, and deftly-crafted suspense thriller from start to finish.” —Midwest Book Review

"Incentive for Death brings an exhilarating dose of uniqueness to fans of crime fiction. The choice of victims – the murder weapon- law enforcement interactions – interpersonal circumstances. The action is explosive and intense as it plays out on the complicated stage of Washington D.C. A fascinating debut!” —Patricia Gussin, New York Times best-selling author.

From the Publisher