It began with a simple coin toss, which led to a mystery, which led to the unthinkable. The simple toss of a coin presents journalist Tony Harrington with a fascinating puzzle. And puzzles, he knows, can lead to good stories. As he searches for the origins of a particularly unusual quarter, others like it begin showing up around Orney, the small Midwestern city where he lives and works. He begins to suspect they are connected to a sixty-year-old mystery―an unsolved bank robbery and the brutal murder of its president. As Tony digs deeper, he sparks a reaction from evil people determined to keep these secrets buried in the past. The results are two new murders and the disappearance of a teenage boy. The people of Orney react in fear and outrage, blaming Tony and the local newspaper, and putting the futures of both at risk. With the help of a state investigator and a Hollywood actress, Tony charges ahead in the search for answers. The suspense escalates further when Tony’s boss offers refuge to an ex-girlfriend fleeing a violent, abusive husband. As these intertwined stories unfold, the danger grows, violence erupts, and Tony finds himself staring into the barrel of a killer’s gun. Join Tony and his loyal friends and colleagues, as they race to find the missing boy, recover a fortune in stolen cash, stop a murderer from killing again, and once again prevent dark secrets from hiding in the past. "A crime reporter accidentally revitalizes a long-dormant criminal in LeValley’s fifth novel in a series. It all starts with a coin―a silver quarter minted in 1961. Tony Harrington, a crime reporter for Orney, Iowa’s Town Crier, comes across it while embedded with a cop friend on a meth-lab stakeout. Tony realizes he’s seen a couple of these coins lately―more than he’d expect, since they’ve long been out of circulation. Tony smells a story, and his investigation leads him to a 60-year-old cold case involving a bank president killed during a robbery. The things that were stolen on that fateful day decades ago have been showing up all over town, and it’s not just quarters; for instance, Tony finds out a teenager bought a comic book for $1,700 in silver certificates. Tony and the cops go looking for the teen, Travis Finley, but as soon as he realizes the authorities are after him, he disappears. Not long afterward, a new murder occurs that appears to be connected to that bank job from long ago. Tony’s investigation turns out to be a much bigger deal than he bargained for, particularly when he finds himself on the business end of a gun―all because of a shiny quarter. The case at the center of this novel is a fun ride, beginning innocently and building slowly to an unexpected conclusion. LeValley’s prose has an earnestness to it that sometimes comes across as callow, as when he describes a movie-star friend of Tony’s: “She was talented, funny, and well-read, with college degrees in both theater and history. She also was blonde and beautiful, making her a favorite of movie directors and fans, as well as the paparazzi.” Tony isn’t the most electrifying crime solver, but this outing is right in his wheelhouse: slightly goofy, slightly bloody, and very Midwestern. It’s perhaps the strongest installment of LeValley’s series so far. A well-plotted mystery involving old coins and older grudges." Kirkus "4 out of 4 stars. Tony Harrington, a newspaper reporter, was on a stakeout with his friend Special Agent Rich Davis. When they flipped a quarter to see who would go for food, he noticed it was made from real silver and was minted in 1961. Somehow, he sensed that this was important. Upon being questioned, various merchants around town informed him that they had been witnessing an increase in similar quarters. Tony discovered they were being spent by a teenage boy, who disappeared soon afterward. He was surprised to learn there had been a bank robbery in town about sixty years previously (in which the banker had been killed). The case had never been solved. Certain people are still around who don’t want the case reopened, and they will go to any lengths to prevent the newspaper’s investigation. Tony’s boss and friend, Ben, received a surprise visit from a woman he had been in love with in the past. She was running from her cruel, extremely intelligent husband. Ben, still harboring feelings for her, agreed to let her stay. Tony and Ben have no idea how dangerous their lives are about to become. The Sophocles Rule by Joseph LeValley is a 311-page crime drama with plenty of mystery and suspense and a little bit of romance. This is the fifth story in A Tony Harrington Novel series. However, the author includes enough information that keeps the reader informed about the characters and any past events that are pertinent to the tale. I was never puzzled about any previous incidents or characters. Considering this is the fifth book, it is an impressive feat. Therefore, it can be read as a standalone novel as all of the relevant questi