Rich and Gone (Red Farlow Mysteries, #1)

Three hundred million dollars is missing! Red Farlow is commissioned to find the embezzled funds. Weeks later, Chadwick Woodrow “Woody” Cunningham, the man to whom the money is entrusted, suddenly disappears with his mistress. Gloria, Woody’s wife, is concerned only with the return of the investors’ money, as well as her own. Woody is of little consequence. As Red becomes more enmeshed in the case looking for Woody and the millions, he becomes aware of his nemesis from a past case following him. Red knows the money is stashed in offshore accounts. But the mystery behind Woody’s disappearance gets more tangled. Not everyone is as they seem, and Red is running out of people to trust. Will Red recover the money? Will Woody be found alive? 

“Rich and Gone” is the debut novel of a new series featuring Red Farlow, a former employee of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He is a congenial character with a dark past who wonders when the past will catch up to him. Everything is not as it appears as the story unravels and reveals plot twists at the least expected times. A superfluity of secondary characters keeps the story interesting, yet they have very little in the way of depth or distinction. Scenes progress slowly and are too wordy. There are excessive details about how the money is placed in the offshore accounts which is difficult for the layman to follow, taking away from the storyline. Red is a man of integrity and it shows through in his actions toward both men and women in this story. The side romance is a nice touch.

Belinda Wilson