An uncovered family secret and a child’s kidnapping unite two assassins in this crime comedy sequel.

Skilled assassin Angelica Fortuna, 30, of the Philadelphia Mafia is in New York City to carry out a hit ordered by her father, Don Vito, on retired hit man Sammy “Lover Boy” Vivino. A posthumous letter from Angelica’s mother stays her hand, and the two killers join forces, fleeing Don Vito’s inevitable revenge for Florida. There, Angelica meets Sammy’s friends, introduced in Lover Boy (2020). A year ago, Sammy and Mafioso assassin Tony “Ace” Esposito killed the abusive husband of Anna Franklin, a patient of Ace’s boyhood friend, ophthalmologist Joseph Peck. The assassins made the death look accidental. Homicide detective Jane Rieger of Nassau County saw the truth, but covered it up—not least because she fell in love with Anna. They married and adopted 9-year-old Felicity. Angelica fits right in with Sammy’s friends, feeling an instant attraction to Joe. When a Russo Family capo kidnaps Felicity to recoup gambling debts incurred by someone Anna knows, Jane calls in a favor from Ace that will bring new friends and lovers together in a mission both merciful and criminal. In his second novel, Kronwith offers a fast pace and snappy narration (“Lover Boy put his gun to the base of the man’s skull and fired, once––all that was necessary for a true professional”), although momentum is sometimes slowed by the complicated backstory. Angelica’s eye-rolling obsession with her own sexiness seems straight out of male fantasies (“My 34-C breasts and the rest of my shapely body”), and the story veers uncomfortably into father/daughter erotic territory. That said, the very entertaining caper plot folds in romance, suspense, action, family ties, and just deserts, often against the backdrop of Mafia culture with its codes of honor and brutality. 

A satisfying and potent Mafia tale.