“The Man on the Bench” receives starred review from BlueInk (12/15/25)

Editorial Review

Hy Conrad’s immersive novel, The Man on the Bench, is the third in a series featuring Callie McFee, a journalist for the Austin Free Press.

For months on her after-work run in a park, Callie has struck up conversations with an unhoused man sitting alone on a bench. She only knows his first name, Barney, but he’s a good listener (and well-read, quoting poets and classic literature), and she confides in him, sharing that her father is showing signs of Alzheimer’s. Then one day her brother State, an Austin policeman, informs her that her name was found in the pocket of a murdered homeless man.

As Callie seeks information about the victim, she finds other Barney “bench buddies,” and with their help, discovers he was actually award-winning, controversial author Cameron Frost pretending to be homeless. The group realizes their stories were being mined for a future book.

The narrative moves slowly initially, but the pace accelerates as Callie and her new friends follow leads about Frost, the plot thickening when one of them is killed. Meanwhile, State heads the police investigation, and once a suspect is arrested, Callie’s father — a longtime Texas politician and power-broker — takes him on as a public relations client.

Conrad, a three-time nominee for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Awards who has written for and produced for the hit television series Monk, clearly knows how to craft a story about killers and how to catch them. While this is a messy tangle of family and friend relationships, the messiness never overwhelms the story, and Conrad’s snappy dialogue keeps readers engrossed, as when State discovers Callie told Frost about their father’s condition. “Who else did you tell?” he asks. “’No one. Jeez, what kind of an idiot,’ She stopped herself. ‘I retract that question.’”

Conrad’s descriptions of Austin neighborhoods, from hipster to high-class, will resonate with anyone familiar with the city, and the climax ties up loose ends with a satisfying shocker.

An entertaining romp with likable characters, The Man on the Bench will have mystery fans rushing to read the earlier books in the series.