Alligator Alley by Mike Lawson

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press on February 7, 2023

Joe DeMarco is not the leading character in this Joe DeMarco novel. DeMarco is the “fixer” for John Maroney, a corrupt congressman, but only a small part of the story follows DeMarco as he does his job. With relative ease, DeMarco sniffs out the reason why a defecting Democrat voted against an environmental bill that Maroney supported.

Maroney and everyone in Washington respects Henry Cantor, an employee of the Inspector General’s Office who is in charge of Department of Justice oversight. Cantor sent one of his bright new underlings to look into the abysmal job performance of two FBI agents in Florida. The employee, Andie Moore, is murdered in a swamp. Cantor suspects she was murdered by the two agents.

Cantor knows that DeMarco and a woman named Emma solved the murder of a congressman, a story that was told in House Arrest. Emma, retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency, did most of the work after DeMarco was arrested and accused of the murder. Cantor would like Maroney to ask Emma to team up with DeMarco to solve Andie’s murder. Maroney agrees despite the mutual animosity between Maroney and Emma.

Alligator Alley isn’t a whodunit as the reader knows from the beginning that the FBI agents did, in fact, kill Andi just after they murdered a crooked doctor they were extorting. Another party was involved in the extortion, one who was much brighter than the FBI agents. Emma spends much of the novel figuring out how to prove that the agents are guilty and identifying their accomplice. DeMarco tags along but, as in House Arrest, leaves the thinking to Emma. DeMarco would rather be playing golf anyway.

Alligator Alley is another of Mike Lawson’s fun, easy reads. Lawson sets up a surprise ending but telegraphs the outcome. Other novels and at least one movie have ended in the same way, making the outcome easy to guess. The resolution is fitting even if it isn’t surprising. Recent DeMarco novels have all been entertaining beach reads. This one is no exception.

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