Shoofly Pie by Tim Downs

After reading the excellent prologue and first chapter I knew I was going to like this book.
Nick Polchak is a Bug Man. He arrives at crime scenes and listens to the flies on the wall. They tell him what happened. Literally.
In short, he is a forensic entomologist, trained to examine decomposed bodies and figure out the cause of crime.
Kathryn Guilford's brother has been found long dead in the woods. She joins forces with Nick to find the killer, but there's a problem. Ever since a traumatic experience as a child, she's been deathly afraid of bugs. Any kind of bug.
Although the mystery is pretty simple, the characters sustain the plot. Nick isn't your average perfect male lead. He's an eccentric geek who spends too much time around bugs and Latin. His wardrobe and his people skills are suffering greatly.
Nick is the kind of character we like. Imperfect and realistic.
The villain isn't a mindless serial killer like you see in most murder mysteries. He's a normal man who has flaws like the rest of us. This is the type of villain we like.
So what's keeping this book from being Elite? I'll tell you.
There is a pretty cheesy chase scene at the end. "suspense" and all.
There are major hints of a romantic subplot. You can't miss it.
All in all, this book is great for a debut novel and deserves attention.
However, this book is directly continued, and you never know what a series is going to do as it progresses.
3.5 stars