My name is John Byron and I’m a cop. Actually, to bit a more precise, I am the detective sergeant in charge of the violent crime investigators in Portland, Maine. I’ve been at this for more than twenty years. It’s not even 5 o’clock in the morning and I’m already headed to a crime scene. Let me just say, if you’re looking for a normal life, stay away from police work. I know what you’re probably thinking, if he hates it so much, why does he do it? Except, here’s the thing, I don’t hate it. It’s actually the one thing I do well. In all honesty, like most cops, I live for the hunt. Catching a murderer and setting things right is a feeling like no other. It must be in my blood. My father, Reece, was once a cop in the Port City too, but that’s another story.

The job of a homicide detective takes an incredible amount of commitment. Catching a case means putting everything, and everyone, in your life on the back burner. Don’t believe me? Ask my ex-wife Kay, or my current girlfriend Diane Joyner. From the moment I arrive on scene, which in this case is imminent, until the mystery is solved, every waking moment will find me consumed by the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the case. Uncovering the answers and bringing to justice those responsible is my mission. And as my boss, Marty LeRoyer, can attest, I let nothing stand in my way.

I was born and raised in Portland, Maine. Grew up on Munjoy Hill on the city’s peninsula. Sometimes it can be difficult working as a cop on the same streets I played on as a kid. A lot of memories here, some good and some bad. In some ways Portland is the same city it’s always been, but some days it’s barely recognizable. Much like it’s inhabitants Portland can be both good and bad. As you might guess, it is the bad that I confront each day. Tough way to make a living, granted, but as Reece used to say, “cops get a front row seat to the greatest show on earth, sonny boy.” Dad was dead-on with that assessment.

Well, I’m afraid duty calls. I’ve just pulled up at the scene behind the department’s evidence van. I see a uniformed officer waiting to log me into the scene, and Evidence Technician Gabe Pelligrosso is already hard at it with his camera. If you’d like to see how this little adventure turns out be sure and check out Within Plain Sight.

Within Plain Sight is the fourth book in the “Detective John Byron” mystery series, released February 4, 2020.

The latest gripping installment of the award-winning, #1 bestselling Detective Byron mystery series: a grisly crime captivates Portland, sending John Byron and his team on a wild chase to catch the killer before it’s too late

Amid the dog days of summer, Detective Sergeant John Byron is called to the scene of a horrific crime: a young woman’s body, dismembered and left in an abandoned Portland lumber yard. The killing shares striking similarities with a spate of murders committed in Boston by a serial killer known only as the Horseman.

As Byron’s team investigates the case, they quickly push up against powerful forces in town. But Byron will stop at nothing to find the truth, not when there is a killer on the loose and everyone is a suspect. Has the Horseman expanded his killing field? Is this the work of an ingenious copycat—or is nothing what it seems? One thing is certain: Byron must uncover the truth before the killer strikes again.

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About the author
Bruce Robert Coffin is the bestselling author of the Detective Byron mystery series. A former detective sergeant with more than twenty-seven years in law enforcement, he supervised all homicide and violent crime investigations for Maine’s largest city. Following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, Bruce spent four years investigating counter-terrorism cases for the FBI, earning the Director’s Award, the highest award a non-agent can receive.

His most recent novel, Beyond the Truth, winner of Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Award for Best Procedural, was a finalist for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and a finalist for the Maine Literary Award for Best Crime Fiction. His short fiction appears in several anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories 2016.

Bruce is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. He is a regular contributor to Murder Books blogs.

Bruce is represented by Paula Munier at Talcott Notch Literary.

He lives and writes in Maine.

To learn more about Bruce, visit his website at brucerobertcoffin.com.

All comments are welcomed.