It might have been the scudding of clouds, or the shifting of the branches in the night breeze, but for an instant there was movement on X’s skin – no, not on, but under, so that the shape of his face was transfigured. Hannah Beckerman, Observer * You've heard the old proverb about ambition, that it's like setting a ladder to the sky.

In the title novel, The Furies, two separate women come to Charlie for help in troublesome cases--one, involving the theft of precious mementos held for ransom, and the other, a case of domestic violence that could turn deadly. A friend of Charlie's wants Dolors all to himself but fears she might still have feelings for the creepy guy. In fact, if counting these two as one, a reader has to go back at least 4 or 5 books for that plot to be advanced. The other case is Parker dipping his foot into intervening in domestic violence and these cases have a way of turning on the do-gooder.

Meanwhile, Lyle Pantuff and Gilman Veale stay at Braycott Arms, a “shithole” hotel suitable for their ilk. A mysterious coin collector named Kepler claims it rightfully belongs to him, and he has no qualms about killing anybody to retrieve it. In the first novel, “The Sisters Strange”, a man named Will Quinn hires Parker to investigate his girlfriend, a woman named Dolors Strange.

Both demonstrate his strengths: Charlie Parker himself with his code of behavior; Charlie’s various, and quite varied associates who offer a wide assortment of aid in his work; a deep knowledge of the inner workings of New England and its criminal underworld; that ever present, but varyingly used, supernatural world; and of course his personal history which has colored his entire adult life.A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated author Erich Ackerman gives Maurice an opportunity. Oh, and I should mention that this all happens during the early days of the lockdowns in March 2020.