One thing that often happens with series of books that use the same central characters is that sooner or later the author seems to stop taking it all too seriously and descends into cartoonish characterizations.  It happened quite a bit with Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series and to a certain degree, it’s happening with Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series.  However, Coben has managed to craft fresh stories and limit just how much he does this, making the silly moment palatable.

In The Final Detail, the sixth book in the series, many of the recurring characters are back.  However, it starts out differently than most.  At the end of the previous novel, One False Move, sports agent and sometimes detective Myron Bolitar was in a state of transition at the end of the book.   The Final Detail picks up a few weeks after those events.  Myron retreated from the world to an isolated tropical island.  As he’s still licking his wounds, the real world crashes in when his long-time friend Win tracks him down to tell him that Esperanza, his partner in the sports agent firm as well as his friend, has been arrested for murder.  Not just any old murder, either, but the murder of one of the firm’s first clients, a high-profile Yankee ballplayer Clu Haid.

Not one to abandon a friend, Myron heads back to New York.  Esperanza, however, doesn’t want his help.  She’s not talking and Myron doesn’t know why.  There are other blows to his life while he was away as he deals with a crumbling client list as well as changes with his parents, who have always been a source of stability.  Through it all, Myron feels he must search for the truth, even if it may not provide the answer he is looking for.

The Final Detail was a good read.  The way the story unraveled was well-paced and kept me guessing.  I could believe Esperanza was innocent but her silence was hard to get past.  The characters develop well. Myron was at a crossroads before, but now he finds many parts of his comfortable world changing.  At the same time, his close circle of friends is widening a bit.  With long-time love Jessica out of the picture, he has a new romance, even if he’s not too sure of it.  Big Cindy, Esperanza’s loyal former wrestling partner, grows from a cartoonish character planted firmly at MB Sports Rep’s reception desk into a multi-dimensional person.

There’s plenty of what the Myron Bolitar books are known for here as well.  Myron gets himself into a number of difficult situations and manages to extricate himself thanks to Win.  The two make a great team and whenever they get together on a case I anticipate the fun.  The story works quite well, fitting into the past as well as with the characters I’ve known up until now.

I’d definitely recommend picking up the other books in the series prior to this one.  There’s a bit more going on in Myron’s personal life that draws on history.  I didn’t think a reader would get totally lost, but some things might sound silly, like Myron living so long in his parent’s basement.  I think this is where the series starts to turn in the direction of needing the background more, but it’s been a fun read up until now, so why not?

The Final Detail builds on the past as well as using it to create a mystery and does so well.  I haven’t gotten tired of Myron Bolitar just yet, and at this rate, I never will.  Well done, Harlan Coben.

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