Frank Nagler Mystery

Even in a hurricane, it should have been a simple case to investigate, Ironton, N.J. Frank Nagler thought. Even if the victim was found in a swamp and didn't have a head. Someone would report a wife, sister, daughter, a friend missing. Once the water receded, clues would float up. But then they didn't, and Nagler wondered why. Then it was suggested that his missing girlfriend might be involved, or even the victim. And Nagler wondered why.

In the end , the case is personal and draws Nagler down paths on his life he has buried, just as the truth of his investigation into the headless woman is suffocated by cheap and dangerous politics and evil in plain sight. He has watched his native city crumble economically, be twisted by greed and dirty politics. He wonders who among his friends are now enemies, who is fair and who is cheating. And he wonders when his heart, broken by the death of his young wife, will heal. The Swamps of Jersey follows Nagler through the twists of lies and deception. It asks two questions: "Who can he trust?" and "What happens then the crime you are investigating breaks your heart?"