Get Your Copy Back On Murder (A Roland March Mystery, #1) Written And Illustrated By J. Mark Bertrand Released Through Digital Paper

on Murder is a Christian Suspense novel about Detective March, a guy struggling to keep his job, his marriage and his emotions in check, who solves a couple of murder cases despite the fact that the department is not behind him.


This book gripped me from the start, I loved the voice. Detective March was a flawed but very likable guy, I found myself rooting for him the whole time, The mystery kept me guessing til the end,

Heres where I struggled with the rating of this book, I have been scouring my library for a Christian novel that presents real characters in real life situations, Characters that make bad choices, But a novel that is also so well written that I wouldnt put it down, This novel did all that, But it lacked the faith piece, While Ill admit that like the book of Esther in the Bible, it doesnt mention God, but I could still see Him working in the story.
This was a clean story no foul language or graphic romance yay! Had it at least planted the seed of the Gospel in Detective March, I would have given itstars.
Sadly, Im not sure the soil was even tilled here,

Here is my hope: that this amazing story will be picked up by nonbelievers who so enjoy it that they will seek others in the Christian genre.


I already have the next two in the series and cant wait to get started,
From Book: Det, Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out, But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself.
Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlightthe disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter.


With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives.
Back On Murder by J, Mark Bertrand is a murder mystery extraordinaire, Houston detective Roland March is disillusioned and misunderstood, relegated to special assignments nobody else wants, He gets his big chance for redemption when he is assigned to a missing persons case one which he thinks is connected to a drug murder but proving it might just cost him his life.
Beyond a very engaging story line with plenty of plot twists and surprises, Bertrands writing style is masterful, His voice is fresh, descriptive, insightful and never, ever cliché, Coming from a Christian publisher, I can honestly say that this book will appeal to the masses, no matter what ones religious stripe.
There are some Christian characters in the book, but they are portrayed as real people and there is never a preachy moment.
This is achieved, I think, by the use of the first person narrative, Since the main character himself is not a believer, he is simply observing the behavior of those around him, weighing their worth on a human level.
This novel deserves a five star rating, without a doubt, I thought this was pretty wellwritten and it definitely held my interest, I appreciated the lack of gore, horror, and sex scenes the author managed this while also maintaining a realistic modern murder story nicely done.


I'm not super impressed with the theological underpinnings, which is disappointing because I expected more from a PCA pastor.
It's not bad necessarily Just not all that one could wish, Perhaps

the rest of the series will be better, Very strong. It's nice to see a modern book that realizes a good story doesn't the language and sex that some other authors feel is mandatory.
Bertrand has put together a strong character in Roland Marcha detective past his prime and punching out, following the demise of his daughter.
Haunted by guilt and in the middle of an existential crisis, March has lost his partner, and is only holding onto his position in homicide by riding the wave of good detective work he put in the past when a new case intrigues him.
This case brings him out of the bout of depression he's in and he begins to return to who he was.
The plot was strong, the characters intriguing, but it was the emotional and psychological issues that are able to be worked into the plot that really cause Bertrand's work to shine.
He's able to discuss concepts of loss, repentance, forgiveness, revenge, and justice coming from various angles, many through the lens of Christians who March just can't quit accept.
If you're looking for a solid murder mystery, a solid look at the influence of loss on lives without having to wade through dross to find it, then here's a great place to start.
The only reason I got this book is because it was free on Amazon for the Kindle, I had never heard of this author or this series but I was looking for free books and stumbled across this one.
I am so glad I did, As soon as I finished this book I dropped,for the next one in the series and as soon as I finish it depending upon the ending I will probably drop another.
for the third one. As far as mysteries go, . . this is not some deep whodoneit that will keep you up all night, You can almost tell who the bad guys are within a few chapters, What will grab you is the reality of the lead character, Roland March basically good guy who struggles with life and the loss of his daughter, March just felt real to me, All of the characters do but March comes off as someone who is tangible, someone you think will come in the house and sit down beside of you and ask for your whereabouts on a particular day and time.
All of the characters and all of the situations feel that real to me, Nothing feels pushed or contrived, it just flows naturally from one scene to the next and that takes a lot of work and talent on the author's part.
Bertrand pulls it off superbly,

Another thing I liked about this book and am appreciating about the second is the lack of foul language.
This is proof that you can write a well thought out book that grabs your audience without the use of foul language.
There are some people who are classifying this as Christian fiction, I don't know if it falls under that category but it could, I really liked this book and hope to read more by this author, Caution: Contains a Naughty Word

Roland March, treated as an invisible by the rest of the homicide squad, discovers a key piece of evidence, that someone, presumably a woman, had been tied to the bed where Octavio Morales had been shot.
. Hes anathema to the rest of the department for reasons unknown but having to do with a personal tragedy in his life, and he has been assigned to the “Car Squad” which tricks persons with outstanding warrants into thinking they might have won a car so they show up only to be arrested.
Its not considered to be glamorous duty, But because of his find, the Lt, assigned him back on the murder squad, In the meantime, Charlotte, his wife, an attorney in a premier legal firm, is on drugs to help her sleep, and wants Roland to get their garage apartment renter out for throwing irresponsible parties.
And romance Forget it.

March wants nothing more than to redeem himself in the eyes of the Homicide Squad, and things begin to look up until he tries to make a connection between the disappearance of a local girl and the girl missing from the murder scene of Morales.


For some reason this book is billed as a Christian mystery and comes from a publisher traditionally known for those kinds of books, whatever the hell they might be.
It does have a couple of church member characters but they seemed quite real and flawed to me, and March certainly doesnt have majestic epiphanies.
Then again, perhaps the Christian threshold is so low that all it takes is the absence of “fuck, ”

Just a good, solid detective story, Ill definitely read more from the author despite the label, I won't be rating this novel as I wasn't able to finish it, The writing style has a pull to it, but overall it was too easy to get lost in all the words for me.
I'm not the best target audience for this book and thus won't be finishing it, A few general thoughts: This book was a satisfying read, I didn't get bored like I thought I would and I didn't dislike the main character despite his faults.
And I didn't know this book was considered or listed as "Christian fiction" until after I finished the book and read some of the other reviews.



Roland March is a homicide detective who, several years ago, was at the top of his game and very wellrespected among his peers.
But over the years his skills diminished and he seemed to do 'just enough', He was tired of getting the grunt work assignments and only wanted to be 'back on murder', It was obvious early on that something tragic happened to him and his wife but we don't learn exactly what that was until at least/of the way through the book.
However, one could guess what it was after several chapters and a few keenly placed thoughts,

Det. March sets out on a plan to gain back his rep and get back to doing what he did best.
He was able to jump in on a murder case of a local drug guy, But March was directed to play second fiddle to a younger up and comer, After a young teenage daughter of a popular megachurch minister goes missing, March think the drug murder and the missing teenager was connected.
Everyone thought he was crazy and while trying to connect the cases and solve them he inadvertently uncovers a few dirty cops who set out to make his life hell.
Following the dirty cop storyline was a bit tiresome in some places, but Betrand figured out how to get back on track eventually.


I thought that I would tire of March's whining and string of bad decisions, But Bertrand somehow made me care about him and feel bad for him all while cussing him out for doing stupid stuff.
Although there were a LOT of characters to keep up with and they seemed to be randomly placed, eventually their roles connected, minus one or two stray detectives and cops.


There was one particular event that wasn't clearly explained and that event was a major turning point.
That was the only loose end, Otherwise, Betrand did an excellent job of answering all of the questions and solving the cases in a tidy manner.
The end was a minor letdown but we at least know who did what and why, And maybe I was sad to see the story end, It didnt move fast and there weren't a lot of surprises, nor was it a quick pageturner, but I was interested and was never bored except for a few places where he meandered mainly about geography of the city.
Good first effort and I actually care enough about March to want to continue reading more books in the series.


One more random thought, . . I liked the fact that Betrand wrote March in such a way that you couldn't tell his race, . . you can assume, but he never comes right out and says it, To me, it doesn't matter and I like that Betrand didn't feel the need to tell us, If he did tell us, I missed it and that's a good thing, .