Ten To The 405 by Kevin Andrade

Published July 30, 2025

I read a LOT– with my go-to genre being what I call the LA/CA PI mystery/crime stuff: Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Lee Goldberg, Sue Grafton, T.Jefferson Parker…you get the idea. I’ve been in a bit of a trough lately, challenged to find something that grabbed me, entertained me, and made me think. Also generally made me grateful to have moved from Orange County to Northern California years ago (but that‘s another story!) I was happy to have the opportunity to read Ten to the 405 by Kevin Andrade (thanks to Wild Rose Press and NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review

I definitely hope this is the first of a series featuring Jake Hansen, a journalist who had been an award winning writer but who made a huge OOPS when he put out a story about a drug cartel. Although it was on the Internet, it was enough to ruin his career, his marriage, and pretty much his whole life. The downward spiral he found himself in resulted in him focusing his time and energy on gambling, drinking, and various relationships with women. He runs what can best be called a dive bar, along with a retired detective from the NYPD and an ex-con…sort of the trifecta of skills needed for crime-related problem solving. When they are hired by a guy from the Casinos Commission (is this a real thing? Not sure, but I decided to just go with it rather than stop and research it because I was quickly drawn into the story!). The guy’s daughter has gone missing and Jake needs to solve the mystery of her disappearance, both to solve the case they were hired to work on as well as to regroup and get back some of his self-respect.

I always love discovering a previously unknown (to me) author, especially one who writes well, has an ear for dialogue, “gets” Southern California (revealed right away by the title), and entertains his readers, while wrapping up a puzzle and making us eager to read more about the person or people who solved it. Great debut for Andrade! I look forward to reading more from this author. When I was teaching, I was known as an easy grader, but sometimes it is well deserved…five stars.