Arrow Bay, Washington, is a town that was founded by Italians, and thus, most of the population is of Italian decent. The townspeople have tried to keep Wilde Park and the picturesque town beautiful and vibrant with continuing restoration of the natural environment. But, certain town council members have tried to pull a fast one on the town by making a deal to bring in a SuperLoMart, to be built on land that is held in a public trust. With a variety of townspeople and their personal opinions, their racist outbursts and accusations of corruption brought against the council, the meeting turns into a big brouhaha.

Before the meeting comes to a close, Police Chief Sanderson, under strict orders, has an important announcement: Misty Snipes has served her twenty-five-year sentence and has been released. This just adds to the tension, and the townspeople want to know what she was convicted of—and why that information can’t be revealed.

Jake Finnigan and his husband, Sam O’Conner, live in Arrow Bay with their faithful companions, Barnaby, Sophia, and Dorothy. Sam is in high demand as a top maritime designer, and Jake is a former ferry operator turned budding author. One interesting aspect about Jake is his photographic memory, another is that he also struggles with the death of his best friend, Chris Aponte.

Jake has been forewarned by Sam as well as Detective Adam Haggerty not to get involved when dead bodies begin turning up and a gory twist to the Grimm’s Fairy Tales becomes a clue, but Jake is right in the mix of things.

What I learned about author Steven Pickens is that he truly has a fondness for Washington State and its beautiful environment. He brings the setting to life with his vivid and colorful descriptions. He also made Jake and Sam an interesting couple. They have a love for classic movies, music and murder mysteries, and their banter is sweet and humorous. Their families are complete opposites, and there’s all sorts of drama that they find themselves confronted with. There is an abundance of family as well as friends that help to make this storyline intriguing, and I’m hoping for more to come in this series.

Since I can never resist reading the first book in a series, I read Final Departure, which introduces Jake, his friend Alex, and, eventually, Sam, before starting this one. It turned out to be one suspenseful murder mystery, and I enjoyed reading that and Sinister Justice back-to-back. Both of the novels are lengthy, but I was not disappointed. The writing is clear and the pace is just right, making the storylines easy to follow and yet the mysteries complex. This was my first time reading this author, but it won’t be the last.

I loved this book.. I had fun reading it. I found it to be a cross between the tv series Murder She Wrote and Twin Peaks. Lots of fun quirky characters, that really engaged the reader to figure out who the murder was. Jake and Sam were a lot of fun to get to know and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. This book drew the reader in from the first page and you had a merry adventure till the end. Lots of plot twists and turns. I didn't figure it out till the reveal, a sure sign of a good read.

At 10% I wondered what the point of the lackluster opening chapters were, and if the pace would improve. At 20%, and bored, I reminded myself an abundance of telling was often necessary to advance a plot. At 30% I admitted defeat.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with the writing, nothing about the story held my interest. That's not to say the next reader won't love it.

DNF = No Rating (but NetGalley wouldn't allow that so I gave it 3 - for being neither good nor terrible )