Publication Date May 21, 2024

Some time ago, I read James Comey’s novel Central Park West, I found it to be “a fast-paced plot including lots of juicy tales of corruption, and terrific legal storytelling. There are also a couple of unexpected twists, and an ending I didn’t see coming…Four stars, almost five.” The protagonist, Federal prosecutor Nora Carleton, works to solve a complex storyline involving the murder of a former governor dealing with conspiracy, corruption, and danger. I noted that “A couple of things Comey knows VERY well are mobsters and politics.”

Thanks to Penzler Publishers/Mysterious Press and NetGalley, I received a copy of Comey’s second novel, Westport.  Nora Carleton is back, but she has left her job as a federal prosecutor and gone to work for the world’s largest hedge fund. She was used to doing good and helping people, which seems to be lacking at the new company. She feels that most of the people at the hedge fund “…had never known what it was like to have a job where you were supposed to do good, to rescue the taken or stop evil people from harming the weak….many of the assets were retirement funds for teachers or firefighters, and making money for those folks was good, but even that moral bank shot required squinting past clients like Middle Eastern oligarchs and genocidal authoritarian governments.” (I love that phrase “moral bank shot.”)

 When a co-worker is murdered, Nora finds herself as the prime suspect. With help from a couple of her former colleagues in the US Attorney’s Office who take leave in order to help her, Nora works to solve the murder and get her life back to normal. Just as Central Park West utilized Comey’s experience and knowledge related to politics and mobsters, Westport utilizes his extensive knowledge of financial crimes. This is another great job by Comey, and although it is sort of a sequel to Central Park West, it can definitely be read as a standalone. I’m looking forward to Comey’s next book! Five stars.