Eight years after being accused of murdering his wife Colleen, Rick Cahill was still trying to move on. At the time of her death, he was arrested, jailed, but let go due to lack of evidence that he committed the murder. However, the former cop was not exonerated.

Years later, he is now the manager of Muldoon’s Steak House, a popular restaurant in La Jolla, California that he one day hopes to own. Ironically, Rick’s father was a cop who was forced off the La Jolla Police force 25 years earlier, adding to the stigma Rick has to bear.

Complicating his life was Melody Malana, a beautiful television reporter carrying dangerous secrets of her own. She was arrested for murder, disappeared, and became a target of a police manhunt. Angela Albright, wife to the mayor of San Diego, also took a liking to Rick.

When a couple of thugs tried to rough Rick up, his partner, Turk Muldoon came to the rescue. But he wasn’t around the next time they visited. Cahill had no idea who would come after him or why, but he decided to dust off his cop skills to try to find out. A friend on the police force volunteered to give him a hand.

Unfortunately, Rick ends up tangled in a web of lies as he struggles with his past, wondering whom he can trust and whether he is going to make it out of this mess alive.

Yesterday’s Echo is the debut novel written by Matt Coyle. He writes in the style of the classic hard-boiled P.I. novels of old, but in a fresh, updated way. The writing is strong, fast-paced and exactly what readers look for in this type of story.

From start to finish, the plot moves swiftly along as Rick runs into one situation after another. Along the way he finds out who he can and cannot trust. The author is adept at the twists and turns that reader’s love and that keep them turning pages long into the night. Yesterday’s Echo is one of those stories that is difficult to put down.

At the end of the novel Coyle wisely sets up what readers can expect in the future. A new career for Rick and hopefully more stories for them.

A special thank you goes to Oceanview Publishing for providing us with an advance reading copy of Yesterday’s Echo for our review. If you are interested in purchasing this novel, it is available on Amazon.com.