A Clay Wolfe / Port Essex Mystery: Book 5
Publication Date: March 27, 2024
Did Black Sam bury pirate treasure in Port Essex 300 years ago?
After finding an incredibly lucrative Spanish treasure in the Keys of Florida, Black Sam Bellamy decided to leave the pirate life and return to his true love in New England. Before being shipwrecked on the way to retrieve her, he hid his booty with the Chbo So Clan in Port Essex.
“Well, Mr. Wolfe, to get straight to the point, we want you to help us find a lost pirate treasure.”
Clay Wolfe had been slouched in the desk chair of his P.I. office, but now he straightened up and sat forward. His normally natty attire was ruffled, stubble dotted his face, and his eyes were red. “In Port Essex?”
Clay Wolfe, devastated by the death of his grandfather, is hired by an antiques dealer to find a long-lost pirate treasure and finds himself pitted against an unscrupulous sex doll businessman, a motorcycle gang, a greedy salvage boat operator, and other mysterious entities. Also recruited for this treasure hunt is Clay’s crew: Westy, Crystal, Murphy, Cloutier, and of course, Baylee Baker.
And the spark between Clay and his partner, Baylee, finally bursts into flame…
Private investigator Clay Wolfe is back for a new adventure, searching for a pirate’s buried treasure.
Although Pirate Trap is the fifth installment in the Clay Wolfe/Port Essex Mystery series, author Matt Cost effectively builds each book as a standalone.
Typically, Clay leaps out of the pages with his escapades, but his personality has been significantly impacted by his grandfather’s murder. Although the storyline primarily focuses on solving a mystery, the subplots regarding the characters provide quite a bit of flavor.
When Clay emerges from his drinking binge, his partner Baylee is waiting. The last time I visited with these characters, Clay and Baylee were still fighting a mutual attraction. Watching their relationship unfold serves as an excellent balance as the treasure hunt for the fire opals ramps up. Two seemingly unrelated cases come together in an action-packed conclusion.
As a side note, the author deserves recognition for the creative method used to catch Silas. I’m not giving away any spoilers, but it was certainly eye-opening.
Pirate Trap delivers a modern-day hunt for a pirate’s treasure, featuring several nefarious characters wreaking havoc in the picturesque setting of Port Essex.
Matt Cost is the highly acclaimed, award-winning author of the Mainely Mystery series. The first book, Mainely Power, was selected as the Maine Humanities Council Read ME fiction book of 2020. This was followed by Mainely Fear, Mainely Money, and Mainely Angst. I Am Cuba: Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution was his first traditionally published novel. He had another historical released in August of 2021, Love in a Time of Hate. Wolfe Trap and Mind Trap were the first two in the Clay Wolfe Port Essex Trap series. Mouse Trap is the third in this series. Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries. Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. A chocolate Lab and a basset hound round out the mix. He now spends his days at the computer, writing.
Thanks, Amy, for the ‘eye opening’ review! Write on.