The King Street Affair

Wyatt Brewer, a middle-aged Charleston reporter, is exploring a story about a dead Estonian washed ashore on Foly Beach when he decides to attend the funeral of Harry Cope, the father of a one-time girlfriend and a decidedly shady character. Ten days later, he is being interviewed by two agents of the Homeland Security’s so-called Infrastructure Surveillance Division.

Twenty years earlier, Harry had asked Wyatt to collect some blueprints from Madrid. The trip ended with a dead Spanish lawyer and Wyatt left holding half a million dollars that no one claimed. Harry had long been suspected of bribery and corruption involving millions of dollars in government-funded infrastructure.

The agents persuade Wyatt to help them unmask Harry’s inside man by infiltrating an ongoing fraud: an unneeded airport in Estonia. Meanwhile, Wyatt reconnects with Harry’s family, and determines to keep Harry’s granddaughter, apparently sucked into her grandfather’s business, from harm.

The story’s premise has potential, but the intrigue, international espionage, and fraud that should drive the novel remain shadowed in the background. Similarly, the ending leaves some questions unanswered. The King Street Affair will appeal most to readers who enjoy some latitude to set the scene and round off the story themselves.