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Reviewed by Paul Johnson for Readers' Favorite
Jared Wagner, retired Army veteran, is the current vice president of human resources for a large southwestern bank. Things are going relatively well with a grown son in college and his cat to share his home; that is, until Jared is told that the lending manager at Saguaro Community Bank, a man that refers to everyone as “dude”, is found dead on a piece of land owned by him with a tomahawk buried in his chest. But that’s not all; a valuable wine bottle opener, also Jared’s, is found with the body. Just like that, Jared finds himself topping the suspect list. Then a second body is found in an area where Jared's key card was accessed. Jared finds himself placed on administrated leave from the bank and pestered by the police. He knows he just can’t sit around and do nothing, so using his charm, his human resources skills and luck, and with the aid of some fellow employees and friends, he begins to uncover a path of corruption that moves from a local casino to small businesses populated with several colorful characters. As he soon discovers, there are motives strong enough for murder. And, along the way he also finds he may just be the next employee targeted to become downsized.
"The Downsized Dude" is a well-crafted, easy to read mystery. I really like the cast of characters. The plot is well done and moves along at a good pace with just enough extra detail to set the stage. I applaud the author for crafting a very good story without the use of excessive violence, explicit language or sexual situations. All in all, a very good read.
