Don’t Look Down, a Surprise-Filled Murder Mystery by Matthew Becker

The Bottom Line: Brimming with strong personalities, Don’t Look Down is a surprising and propulsive murder mystery, as well as a worthy follow-up to Run

The follow-up to Matthew Beckers’ must-read debut novel Run opens on Theodore Roosevelt Island with the murder of a United States Senator. As homicide Detective Emilia Brown and her new partner begin investigating the Senator’s disappearance, she interviews Ben Walsh in an attempt to get insight into a meeting Ben’s boss, a congresswoman, and the late senator had prior to his death. If Ben doesn’t seem eager to help, it may be because has his own problems to deal with. At home, Ben is still wrestling with revelations of his wife’s long-hidden past. 

But Veronica Walsh, who has started her own private detective firm, soon finds a welcome distraction from Ben’s ire. Shortly after being told by police that her husband jumped to his death from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, Mikaela Alonso shows up at the Walshs’ doorstep, begging for Veronica’s help. It seems that Mikaela – who harbors a secret connection to the Walsh family –  doesn’t believe her husband committed suicide. With the body still missing, she appears to believe that Veronica stands a far greater chance of finding him alive than the local police.

With Veronica and Emilia both working separate investigations, it’s only a matter of time before their respective worlds collide – and the body count rises. 

Becker set a high bar with the concept for Run (one of the best thrillers of 2024), in which Ben Walsh was singularly focused on finding his wife. The more Ben dug, the less he liked what he found. With Don’t Look Down, Becker takes big narrative risks and defies the conventions typically found in a series sequel.

For starters, Ben’s role as amateur sleuth has lessened significantly, and the limelight is now shared by not one, but three other leads. Chapters are told in alternating points of view from Veronica, Emilia and Mikaela’s perspectives (a fourth character’s perspective is also added later in the book). 

Becker’s attempts to make each chapter a kind of confessional for the three leads, while keeping the evolving murder mysteries moving, is largely successful. Similarly effective is the tension that arises from the secrets each keeps from each other. Of the three, Emilia proves to be the most sympathetic by far. Realistic about the emotional toll her job takes on her, and somewhat dissatisfied with her colleagues, she also leads through action with meticulousness, experience and heart. 

In contrast, Veronica increasingly feels like the female version of Dexter – a born killer, shaped and guided by her father, who has been masquerading as something she isn’t for most of her adult life. Fleeting scenes of normalcy, such as watching the twins play in a jungle gym, only amp up the tension simmering beneath the entire story. Throughout, Veronica lays bare the pain of her past and present while seeming to relish the action her new life brings her. Will her foray into private detective work transform her into someone she and Ben are more at peace with, or will her new life finally shatter whatever’s left of her nuclear family? That’s the burning question simmering beneath the surface of this engaging trilogy, and it’s one that will keep us eagerly awaiting book three. 

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