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John Santana #5
Death's Way
The death of a beautiful escort in a downtown hotel room appears to be a case of autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong. But when a woman brings her young daughter to the police department with a strange story about a similar death six years before, Homicide Detective John Santana is drawn into a dangerous world of drugs, sex, and deceit, and toward a secret that lies buried in the past; a secret that could not only destroy the lives of some well-connected and powerful men, but one that raises questions about the very meaning of life and deathand the boundary between the living and the dead.
- GenresMystery
360 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2014
About the author
Christopher Valen
20 books54 followersChristopher Valen is the award-winning author of nine works of fiction featuring Colombian-born, St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana: White Tombs, The Black Minute, Bad Weeds Never Die, Bone Shadows, Death’s Way, The Darkness Hunter, Speak For The Dead, The Price Of Life, and No Way To Die. He's also written the historical noir murder mystery, City Of Stones, set in 1950 Minneapolis, with fellow author Dan Cohen, and the literary novel All The Fields.
Booklist calls Santana “. . . an appealing series lead, strong and intelligent . . .” Midwest Book Review declares that “Santana is a wonderful addition to the sub-genre,” and Library Journal says that Valen’s “ . . . highly moral Santana character is golden.”
Christopher is a graduate of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Citizen Academy and has many contacts and resources in the law enforcement community. He lives in Arizona and Minnesota with his Colombian-born wife, Martha. To learn more visit his website at www.christophervalen.com
Booklist calls Santana “. . . an appealing series lead, strong and intelligent . . .” Midwest Book Review declares that “Santana is a wonderful addition to the sub-genre,” and Library Journal says that Valen’s “ . . . highly moral Santana character is golden.”
Christopher is a graduate of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Citizen Academy and has many contacts and resources in the law enforcement community. He lives in Arizona and Minnesota with his Colombian-born wife, Martha. To learn more visit his website at www.christophervalen.com
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 20, 2014
I won this for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book was really simple and light to read despite the plot. Took me a couple weeks to read it because I mainly read it only on my lunch break. It ends in a completely different way than I was expecting. Simply written, a good choice if you're looking for a murder mystery.
This book was really simple and light to read despite the plot. Took me a couple weeks to read it because I mainly read it only on my lunch break. It ends in a completely different way than I was expecting. Simply written, a good choice if you're looking for a murder mystery.
November 9, 2015
Another winner! But last in the series of five. Christopher Valen is coming to our book club meeting tomorrow so hopefully I will find out there is a #6!
April 4, 2020
First read for me of a Christopher Valen mystery and must say it was spellbinding. Hard to put down. A large cast of characters and hard to keep them all straight. A John Santana novel and well written. If you like mysteries this one will wring you out and you will love every minute of it.
September 11, 2014
I won an autographed ARC of Christopher Valen's latest John Santa thriller, Death's Way. I had a pile of to-be-reads ahead of his book. Had I have known it was going to be as engrossing and compelling, I would have moved it to the top of the heap, for sure. For the longest time --at least the last few years-- I have buried myself in zombie novels. And I love them, but I had forgotten how much I enjoy police procedural thrillers. Death's Way is like an John Sanford novel but with more depth and description. But I am getting ahead of my own review.
When a Catalina Diaz is found dead in a hotel room, it looks like an ugly suicide. Everything points in that direction. When Homicide Detective John Santana and his partner, Kacie Hawkins start digging, a suicide doesn't add up. Diaz, a high-end escort, has her purse in the room, but no cell phone, no car or house keys. That is one of the first clues that indicates foul play.
The police chief wants the case rapped up fast. He wants the death ruled a suicide, and for the detectives to move on to other pressing matters. Santana is not so easily swayed. A business card left inside Diaz's purse is what leads Santana and Hawkins on a journey that connects escorts, and fishing trips, to drugs and dangerous gangs. Their are doctors and vicious cartels mixed in. And worse, more deaths.
What seems like a splash of the supernatural even gets added into the pot. All that is left is for Santana and Hawkins to sift through circumstantial evidence, to keep at the door-knocking, and pray they find some answers --some evidence that will convince their bosses that suicide and accidental deaths are not what it is all about.
In a desperate search for answers to help solve a murder, Santana is also forced to balance his job with the relationship he has with his girlfriend. Trouble is, like most men, he is not great at opening up and letting others in. The ultimatum is clear, start sharing, or there will be nothing to salvage. His silence isn't at all about being macho, though --it is about protection. Only, at some point, there has to be compromise, Santana just isn't sure he is ready to move forward.
Death's Way is a memorizing read. The narrative is complete and descriptive, poetic and well-painted. The characters are perfectly drawn, and filled in, and fleshed out. Flaws and all. Valen weaves a tale that is top notch crime novel material. The sad thing is this guy has been writing books for a while and I'd never heard of him. The great thing is, I know who he is now, and I cannot wait to sink my teeth into more of his work! If you like cop books, authors like John Sanford and Ed McBain, then you have got to give Christopher Valen a go. You won't be disappointed!
Phillip Tomasso
The author of Blood River and The Vaccination Trilogy
http://www.philliptomasso.com/
When a Catalina Diaz is found dead in a hotel room, it looks like an ugly suicide. Everything points in that direction. When Homicide Detective John Santana and his partner, Kacie Hawkins start digging, a suicide doesn't add up. Diaz, a high-end escort, has her purse in the room, but no cell phone, no car or house keys. That is one of the first clues that indicates foul play.
The police chief wants the case rapped up fast. He wants the death ruled a suicide, and for the detectives to move on to other pressing matters. Santana is not so easily swayed. A business card left inside Diaz's purse is what leads Santana and Hawkins on a journey that connects escorts, and fishing trips, to drugs and dangerous gangs. Their are doctors and vicious cartels mixed in. And worse, more deaths.
What seems like a splash of the supernatural even gets added into the pot. All that is left is for Santana and Hawkins to sift through circumstantial evidence, to keep at the door-knocking, and pray they find some answers --some evidence that will convince their bosses that suicide and accidental deaths are not what it is all about.
In a desperate search for answers to help solve a murder, Santana is also forced to balance his job with the relationship he has with his girlfriend. Trouble is, like most men, he is not great at opening up and letting others in. The ultimatum is clear, start sharing, or there will be nothing to salvage. His silence isn't at all about being macho, though --it is about protection. Only, at some point, there has to be compromise, Santana just isn't sure he is ready to move forward.
Death's Way is a memorizing read. The narrative is complete and descriptive, poetic and well-painted. The characters are perfectly drawn, and filled in, and fleshed out. Flaws and all. Valen weaves a tale that is top notch crime novel material. The sad thing is this guy has been writing books for a while and I'd never heard of him. The great thing is, I know who he is now, and I cannot wait to sink my teeth into more of his work! If you like cop books, authors like John Sanford and Ed McBain, then you have got to give Christopher Valen a go. You won't be disappointed!
Phillip Tomasso
The author of Blood River and The Vaccination Trilogy
http://www.philliptomasso.com/
March 23, 2014
John Santana, St. Paul Homicide Detective, is called to a death scene in a downtown hotel room. The case at first glance appears to be a case of autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong. She was choked by the plastic bag over her head that evidently was to serve as a safety device but the victim passed out before she could get the bag off. There was a silk scarf around the waist of the corpse and hooks of a red bungee cord bound around her waist was attached to a second strap that stretched up her back, around her neck, and down to the waist strap again. From all appearances, this death was an accidental suicide but Santana always considered death by strangulation a homicide until proved otherwise.
The hotel room was actually a spacious, private suite. Santana searched the purse left in the room and found a driver's license identifying the deceased as Catalina Diaz, twenty-two years old. The purse contained no keys or cell phone which was unusual since most people carried a cell phone and keys of some type to an apartment, house or car. He also found a small envelope containing five one hundred dollar bills and a business card for a Dr. Philip Campbell.
John's partner, Kacie Hawkins, checks and finds that Catalina Diaz had used the same hotel two weeks earlier. Hawkins has her car towed to the impound lot. According to the key log, Diaz entered the hotel room at 9:32 p.m. the previous night and never left. Philip Campbell checked out at 6:00 a.m. this morning. Santana and Hawkins search the victim's condo in downtown St. Paul and Santana finds a couple of items commonly used in Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. He also found a picture of Diaz with a woman he thought was probably Nina Rivera Diaz's roommate. Santana also finds a list of the names of three men hidden in a drawer.
A woman brings her daughter to the police department with a story of a similar death six years before. This strange story captures Santana's interest and he searches for connections between call girls and their involvement with powerful men. This is just a brief summary of the beginning of the case.
The story is very exciting and is a fast read and many of the details will be shocking and hard to imagine. Detective John Santana is a complex character and the reader gets to know him better with each novel. I'm looking forward to the next one.
The hotel room was actually a spacious, private suite. Santana searched the purse left in the room and found a driver's license identifying the deceased as Catalina Diaz, twenty-two years old. The purse contained no keys or cell phone which was unusual since most people carried a cell phone and keys of some type to an apartment, house or car. He also found a small envelope containing five one hundred dollar bills and a business card for a Dr. Philip Campbell.
John's partner, Kacie Hawkins, checks and finds that Catalina Diaz had used the same hotel two weeks earlier. Hawkins has her car towed to the impound lot. According to the key log, Diaz entered the hotel room at 9:32 p.m. the previous night and never left. Philip Campbell checked out at 6:00 a.m. this morning. Santana and Hawkins search the victim's condo in downtown St. Paul and Santana finds a couple of items commonly used in Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. He also found a picture of Diaz with a woman he thought was probably Nina Rivera Diaz's roommate. Santana also finds a list of the names of three men hidden in a drawer.
A woman brings her daughter to the police department with a story of a similar death six years before. This strange story captures Santana's interest and he searches for connections between call girls and their involvement with powerful men. This is just a brief summary of the beginning of the case.
The story is very exciting and is a fast read and many of the details will be shocking and hard to imagine. Detective John Santana is a complex character and the reader gets to know him better with each novel. I'm looking forward to the next one.
September 12, 2014
Having just finished reading “Death’s Way” by author, Christopher Valen, I can immediately state that I was not disappointed. “Death’s Way” was a fast-paced, well-written book, but of course I didn’t really find that surprising. I had previously read Valen’s prior release: “Bone Shadows,” therefore I was quite familiar with his writing skills and the various twists and turns that Valen always works seamlessly, and expertly, into the storyline.
In “Death’s Way” we continue on with another John Santana novel. For those who are unfamiliar with this series, Santana is a homicide detective on the St. Paul Minnesota Police Department payroll. While Santana does come with his own personal baggage, he is a man of integrity whose main goal in life (other than survival) is to see that justice is done. He seems rather ‘old school’ and ‘out of place’ in a world of values that don't match his own, yet that is what sets him apart from the rest.
In “Death’s Way” we, the reader, start our journey in the wee hours of the morning. We discover ourselves in an escort’s hotel room - the scene of an apparent accidental death by autoerotic asphyxiation. All the evidence points to an accident, but for some unknown reason Santana is not convinced. And even though the coroner has also labeled this death accidental, Santana feels obligated to treat it as a homicide. He has nothing more than his gut instinct to rely on; however, Santana has learned long ago that his instinct usually grasps more than his eyes.
I don’t want to provide any more of the story, but I will confirm that this is yet another ‘must read.’ In summary, Valen is a master of words, of plots and subplots, and subplots within additional subplots. In “Death’s Way” Valen has once again crafted a spellbinding tale of mystery, murder, intrigue and the unexplained. His readers, both old and new, will not be disappointed.
In “Death’s Way” we continue on with another John Santana novel. For those who are unfamiliar with this series, Santana is a homicide detective on the St. Paul Minnesota Police Department payroll. While Santana does come with his own personal baggage, he is a man of integrity whose main goal in life (other than survival) is to see that justice is done. He seems rather ‘old school’ and ‘out of place’ in a world of values that don't match his own, yet that is what sets him apart from the rest.
In “Death’s Way” we, the reader, start our journey in the wee hours of the morning. We discover ourselves in an escort’s hotel room - the scene of an apparent accidental death by autoerotic asphyxiation. All the evidence points to an accident, but for some unknown reason Santana is not convinced. And even though the coroner has also labeled this death accidental, Santana feels obligated to treat it as a homicide. He has nothing more than his gut instinct to rely on; however, Santana has learned long ago that his instinct usually grasps more than his eyes.
I don’t want to provide any more of the story, but I will confirm that this is yet another ‘must read.’ In summary, Valen is a master of words, of plots and subplots, and subplots within additional subplots. In “Death’s Way” Valen has once again crafted a spellbinding tale of mystery, murder, intrigue and the unexplained. His readers, both old and new, will not be disappointed.
March 1, 2014
I got this book free from Firstreads. This is my honest review.
John Santana is a homicide detective in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but he's also living a secretive life from his past in his home country of Columbia. Perhaps this is why truth and justice are most important in his life, while others in the department just want to have cases solved and get promotions.
After a beautiful woman is found dead in a hotel room and her death is called accidental, Santana instinctively believes her autoerotic asphyxiation is actually murder. A number of famous Doctors --friends since college--seem to be involved. When one of these Doctors is then found dead from an apparent suicide, Santana decides this must be a set up, as he supposedly killed himself because he'd killed the dead woman who was also an escort.
This carefully plotted police procedural deals with the sex trade from Costa Rica, drug trafficking, a wrongly convicted murderer, and murderous drug cartels. There are numerous turns and twists, including a six year old girl who seems to be the reincarnation of another woman who died in a similar way years ago. Secrets and the meaning of life and death drive this intriguing and fast passed mystery. Reads well as it is, but there are four previous books in this series that could flesh out more of Santana's past that now seem like must reads for me.
John Santana is a homicide detective in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but he's also living a secretive life from his past in his home country of Columbia. Perhaps this is why truth and justice are most important in his life, while others in the department just want to have cases solved and get promotions.
After a beautiful woman is found dead in a hotel room and her death is called accidental, Santana instinctively believes her autoerotic asphyxiation is actually murder. A number of famous Doctors --friends since college--seem to be involved. When one of these Doctors is then found dead from an apparent suicide, Santana decides this must be a set up, as he supposedly killed himself because he'd killed the dead woman who was also an escort.
This carefully plotted police procedural deals with the sex trade from Costa Rica, drug trafficking, a wrongly convicted murderer, and murderous drug cartels. There are numerous turns and twists, including a six year old girl who seems to be the reincarnation of another woman who died in a similar way years ago. Secrets and the meaning of life and death drive this intriguing and fast passed mystery. Reads well as it is, but there are four previous books in this series that could flesh out more of Santana's past that now seem like must reads for me.
April 25, 2014
I received this book as a First Reads giveaway.
This is my second John Santana novel and I enjoyed it as much as the last one I read, Bone Shadows. What I most enjoy is that you follow the case from crime scene to resolution as Jihn does. You are given the clues as he finds them and can try to solve the crime with the info at hand. There are twists and turns that crop up to complicate the story, they serve to build layers as you read.
Santana is a very positivly portrayed Hispanic character in literature. Valen's detailed descriptions never fail to teach me something new; in this case, about South American cultures and Hindu beliefs.
I highly recommend this ad a great mystery read.
This is my second John Santana novel and I enjoyed it as much as the last one I read, Bone Shadows. What I most enjoy is that you follow the case from crime scene to resolution as Jihn does. You are given the clues as he finds them and can try to solve the crime with the info at hand. There are twists and turns that crop up to complicate the story, they serve to build layers as you read.
Santana is a very positivly portrayed Hispanic character in literature. Valen's detailed descriptions never fail to teach me something new; in this case, about South American cultures and Hindu beliefs.
I highly recommend this ad a great mystery read.
November 12, 2014
This was my first John Santana book and I have to say I really like the main character.
John has a real moral conscious and wants to solve crimes in the name of justice and not just the glory.
The mystery was a good whodunit with several twists and turns of the plot.
During the course of the investigation the locale moves to Costa Rica and the action there gives you a feel for the country.
It is an easy read with enough substance to keep you interested.
It makes me want to go back and read the earlier books in the series.
John has a real moral conscious and wants to solve crimes in the name of justice and not just the glory.
The mystery was a good whodunit with several twists and turns of the plot.
During the course of the investigation the locale moves to Costa Rica and the action there gives you a feel for the country.
It is an easy read with enough substance to keep you interested.
It makes me want to go back and read the earlier books in the series.
March 16, 2014
This was a great book it was like a doing jigsaw puzzle. I recommends this book to anyone who likes a thriller. I won this book on Goodreads. Thank you
March 3, 2014
I thought it was a good murder mystery. Took some unexpected turns at the end. I would recommend it to others.
March 26, 2014
Truly did not like this book.
November 21, 2014
Like the ethnic flavor and that it is set in a place I know.
October 12, 2017
Pretty good - A good enough story, good action, a good "mystery" it moves along pretty well, an easy ready, all in all, enjoyable.
September 7, 2016
i coulndt put this book down. very well written
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews