The Pallbearers (Shane Scully Series #9) Book

To find the truth about one man’s death

LAPD Detective Shane Scully was raised in an orphanage called Huntington House. There, he and a small group of kids were devoted to the home’s director Walter “Pop” Dix. An avid surfer with a larger-than-life spirit, Pop was the father Shane never had. And now, thirty years later, he is gone…

The pallbearers will put their lives on the line…

Pop is found dead, the victim of an apparent self-inflicted shotgun blast. He left a note naming six Huntington grads as his pallbearers. Shane is one of the chosen—but he doesn’t believe Pop’s death was a suicide. Now, along with the others, Shane embarks on a dangerous mission to unearth Pop’s real killer. But the group discovers an unexpected adversary whose power and influence far exceed anything they could have imagined—violent, dangerous men who are determined to keep the truth about Pop’s death under wraps…no matter who gets in their way.

 “Stephen J. Cannell is a first-rate storyteller.”—Janet Evanovich

“[Cannell] keeps you nailed to the page.” —Ted Bell

Publishers Weekly

Shane Scully revisits his troubled past as a foster child in bestseller Cannell's slightly more plausible than usual ninth novel to feature the LAPD detective (after On the Grind). Scully and his attractive wife, Alexa, the acting commander of the LAPD's detective division, are looking forward to a two-week vacation in Hawaii. Then Scully hears the shocking news that Walter Dix, the head of Huntington House Group Home, where the policeman spent time in his youth, has blown his head off with a shotgun. Since Scully hadn't kept in touch with his former mentor, he's surprised to learn Dix left a note designating him a pallbearer. The other pallbearers at Dix's funeral, fellow alums of Huntington House, also doubt the official suicide verdict and join Scully in an effort to find the truth. Cannell telegraphs a lot of his plot developments and could've done a better job to make his hero distinctive, but series fans should be satisfied. 7-city author tour. (Mar.)