“Cameron Winter had a strange habit of mind. He sometimes slipped without warning into a silent state akin to meditation. His points of view and his opinions vaporized. All that remained in his consciousness were shifting patterns of events and personalities.”

I figured that no one could describe the unique protagonist of this series better than his creator, Andrew Klavan. I always love when writers incorporate the title of their novel within the story. This was done in such a perfect and dual-purpose way as it also gives readers a peek inside the enigma that is Cameron Winter.

"A STRANGE HABIT OF MIND is a great, hard-boiled-style novel that provides readers with an extremely satisfying look at modern-day San Francisco through the eyes of a protagonist who is quite different from most you encounter in the mystery genre."

At the beginning of A STRANGE HABIT OF MIND, Winter --- a former spy/assassin and current English professor --- is finishing up a lecture on one of his favorite poets, William Wordsworth. His good mood is brought way down when he is informed that a former student of his, Adam Kemp, has died by suicide. What stings the most is that Adam had texted him just a few days earlier with a two-word message: Help me.

While Winter deals with the regret of not immediately following up on that plea, he does what instinct has taught him to do: he digs into Adam’s last days to see what he turns up. What he finds is not incredibly positive. Adam’s reputation on the street was as a drug dealer, and a load of meth has been found in his apartment.

Winter eventually learns that Adam may have angered a local psychotic drug dealer, nicknamed “Quintero,” who is known for doing nasty things to his enemies. In addition, Adam’s girlfriend, Evelyn, shows signs of being beaten and admits that he had physically abused her while he was under the influence of drugs. Of course, this does not sit well with Evelyn’s uncle by marriage, high-tech billionaire Gerald “Pup” Byrne.

Our stalwart professor confronts both individuals. Quintero keeps things close to the vest; when informed of Adam’s suicide leap, he merely responds, “A man makes his own arrangements with death, Homes.” Byrne is an even harder nut to crack. It is difficult to get past his exterior that includes being quite the philanthropist known to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. However, Winter is shrewd enough to see through this. He believes not only that Byrne had a hand in Adam’s death, but that he may have antagonized Quintero into doing it.

However, even with Winter’s special set of skills, he may not be much of a match in his new guise as mild-mannered professor --- especially when he is going up against a billionaire with seemingly infinite resources, including a psycho of a bodyguard.

A STRANGE HABIT OF MIND is a great, hard-boiled-style novel that provides readers with an extremely satisfying look at modern-day San Francisco through the eyes of a protagonist who is quite different from most you encounter in the mystery genre.