Westport by James Comey
What's It About?
Nora Carleton's new life falls apart when a coworker at Saugatuck Associates is murdered and she becomes the lead suspect. To clear Nora’s name, Mafia investigator Benny Dugan and attorney Carmen Garcia hunt for the true killer's motive, but it seems nearly everyone at Saugatuck has secrets worth killing for.Unless you’ve completely avoided political news since 2016 – yeah, I know it’s tempting – you’ve likely heard of James Comey, the former FBI director fired by President Donald Trump in 2017 for reasons that remain open to debate.
Since then, Comey has found fresh pursuits, including that of thriller-mystery writer. What you may not know is that before becoming FBI director, Comey fought organized crime as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York and spent five years doing legal work for Bridgewater Associates, a Connecticut-based investment firm.
Those latter roles served him well with his latest fictional effort, Westport (Mysterious Press), in which Comey writes smartly about familiar territory. It’s an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery that features characters from his debut novel, Central Park West, but you can easily approach it as a stand-alone.
Connecticut-Set Murder Mystery
The prime suspect, Nora Carleton, has left her job in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for big bucks and a suburban lifestyle for her daughter at Saugatuck Associates, a giant hedge fund based in Westport, Conn. Comey, who obviously has some experience operating in bizarre workplace environments, does a good job capturing life at Saugatuck, whose billionaire founder, David Jepson, preaches a philosophy of radical honesty in the workplace. Needless to say, Jepson’s ideals won’t quite square with the unfolding reality.
Helen Carmichael, a top exec at Saugatuck, recruited Nora, and they became good friends, and we later learn they walked back from what could have become an inappropriate relationship – or, at least that’s what Nora will claim.
As the story opens, we learn that Helen is no longer among the living. Not only has she been killed, she’s been found dead in an abandoned red canoe in a spot that makes Nora the prime suspect. Nora’s status gets amplified when the police find blood evidence on her car and knife evidence in her kitchen.
Nora argues that someone set her up. As a former prosecutor herself, she argues that if she intended to murder Helen, she’d certainly take greater care not to make herself such an obvious target. But the police chief, a sketchy character himself, notes that crimes of passion, if that’s what this is, can be funny that way.
In typical Christie style, you’re pretty sure but not 100 percent certain that the prime suspect didn’t do the deed and most of the book is occupied with investigators questioning an array of other intriguing suspects in an effort to unearth who had the motive, means and opportunity to kill a colleague.
Dark Motives and an Abundance of Suspects
For help, Nora enlists an old friend, Benny Dugan, a seasoned investigator who takes a leave from his work in the U.S. attorney’s office to assume the role that Christie’s detective, Hercule Poirot, occupies in her mysteries – methodically investigating and questioning the possible suspects.
Dugan learns that the top execs at Saugatuck have much to hide despite the firm having about as squeaky-clean and carefully polished a public image a hedge fund could have. Dugan, working with Saugatuck’s internal investigator, tries to keep the cops at bay as he explores everything from underage sexual predilections to illegal forward trading on Saugatuck’s pending deals. Everyone on Saugatuck’s top team has a motive it seems, including Jepson himself, as Dugan and Nora realize how much Helen knew about her colleagues.
That’s a premise for a good yarn, and Comey has crafted a well-grounded mystery, though, at least for me, it lacked the emotional engagement with the characters and crisp dialogue of the best thrillers. And I found myself wishing for an even twistier ending than the one Comey gives us.
Still, you’ll definitely want to keep reading until the end. And you’ll be thankful you don’t work at Saugatuck.
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About James Comey:
Since graduating from the College of William and Mary in 1982 and the University of Chicago Law School in 1985, James Comey has been a prosecutor, defense lawyer, general counsel, teacher, writer, and leader. He most recently served in government as Director of the FBI. His best-selling book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership” was published in 2018 and made into a 2020 television limited-series. His second book, “Saving Justice: Truth, Transparency, and Trust,” also a New York Times best-seller, was published in 2021.
“Westport,” the second book in a New York-based crime novel trilogy drawn from his career, was published in May 2024, following on the 2023 release of the critically acclaimed “Central Park West.”
Jim (as he is known to family and friends) and his wife, Patrice, live in Virginia and are the parents of five and grandparents (so far) of four.
