Through rain, snow, sleet, and fusillades of bullets he always makes his deliveries

As Carter makes deliveries, he has an uncanny habit of stumbling upon criminal activities that then make him feel an obligation to respond. Since Carter looks like an unassuming nerd the bad guys he encounters rarely see him as any sort of threat. Their mistake.

While he is hardly invincible, he gets knocked around a lot during these altercations, he frequently finds ways to overcome assailants who are larger than he is and definitely more dangerous looking. And he will be wearing his handy utility vest which contains various useful devices he can usually produce in the nick of time.

The first book opened as Carter was attempting to make a delivery in Indiana. Upon arrival he immediately realizes he has stumbled upon an ongoing home invasion. We discover quickly just how alert he is and how he is willing to intercede on behalf of strangers in need.

As this new one begins Carter is on his way to make a fairly innocuous delivery in the New England region. He assists a woman who has just been in a car accident. Another vehicle pulls up. Then a big guy approaches him, threatens him, points a gun at him, and tells him to leave.

Carter disobeys. He doesn’t like it when bad guys boss him around. This scene introduces us to this one thuggish villain who plays a central role in the story but there are others. That car accident leads to Carter taking a detour from that initial delivery to try to perform another far more difficult and complicated one.

As I tiptoe through any potential spoilers I need to let you know about an underlying mystery that connects these first two books; Carter’s father worked for the U.S. Postal Service-he got murdered on the job. Carter is a former U.S. Postal Inspector and he is still trying to apprehend the fellow who killed his dad.

I asked Welsh-Huggins about this connective thread-will Carter continue chasing his father’s killer? He assured me he isn’t planning on stretching that story line out and will resolve it in the next book.

If you are searching for mysteries that have convoluted plots, invigorating action, and abundant humor you cannot go wrong with this series.