This is the first book in the Ray Quinn detective series. I received the second book from one of my review programs, so of course, I had to read the first one...first. I don't usually review the preceding books in these situations, but I actually liked The Night Watchman better than The Corruptible, so I decided to post reviews for both.

This is a "Christian" book, but Ray Quinn isn't the Christian. He's more of a smart-alec, stand-on-your-own, rogue ex-cop. His way of coping with the tragedies in his life is to spend quality time with his buddy Jim. That would be his best friend, Jim Beam.

His partner at work, and eventually in crime-solving, is the over-zealous Crevis.(Hey, I just realized that rhymes!) This is a well-written book, and I love a mystery that isn't easy to figure out, but the best part of the book is the humor. I laughed my way through this book. There is a little sadness, as Ray shares about the death of his former partner, but that's a small part. And most of the humor is at Crevis's expense. Ray really isn't the nicest guy on the block, but Mynheir writes in such a way that you have to love Ray anyway.
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One of the few books that I've encountered that is just plain middle of the road. The author isn't over-reaching, nor is he truly falling short. It is what it is, a simple story, simply told. Having lived in the Orlando area for a few months back in the day, I recognized most of the locale and thus felt a token familiarity for the surroundings. I do think some of the small day to day of this book was actually more interesting than the whole. While I am a reader who generally loathes religion in this genre, the author did not over sell it, and the main character isn't becoming "born again" by the end of the book, which in and of itself is quite refreshing. As I understand it to be the start of a series, I would hope the sidekick character becomes more developed, the religion stays at the very back and a few interesting cases to solve come along. ( )

I enjoyed this story. The author does a wonderful job of letting the reader follow Ray Quinn through the who done it mystery. There are sections which occasionally pull the reader up. However the author does a great job of presenting images and scenes which are easily pictured in the reader's mind. ( )

I can say I enjoyed the story and main character in this novel, with a couple exceptions. Former homicide detective Ray Quinn was not really believable when he mused on the Christian woman that comes to him for help, wondering if his stand on faith could be wrong. It just didn’t seem real, didn’t mesh with the character. The woman preaching morality became annoying. But since it is Christian fiction I guess they could not leave that part out.
Then his obsession with John Wayne and with his best friend Jim Beam seemed forced.
Mysteries are my favorite genre and this one had a satisfying ending.
Good but nothing special. ( )

The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir grabbed me right at the beginning and kept it's teeth sunk in until the last page. Even then I found myself thinking about the story for several days. For me, that's the sign of a good story.

Ray Quinn is a busted up ex-cop with a bum leg and a load of bad memories of when he was wounded and of his partner's death. He finds himself investigating a double-homicide at the request of one of the victims relative and his life gets interesting once again. Maybe a bit too interesting. We watch Ray Quinn come back to life, to regain purpose in life and eventually come to grips with what happened to him as he solves this case.

The Night Watchman is well written with pretty good character development and a steady, hard driving storyline. There are some nice twists and some decent humor throughout. The authors experience as a police detective shows all through the story and really helps keep the storyline tight.

I'd recommend The Night Watchman to anyone that enjoys thrillers, mysteries, and suspense novels. I hope to see a second book in the series soon. ( )