I hope Andrew Welsh-Huggins’ thriller, The Mailman, finds its audience, and kicks off a series. The book is that good. And, Mercury Carter is an unexpected hero.

Attorney Rachel Stanfield and her husband, Glenn, are arguing in the kitchen when four men break in and threaten them unless Rachel turns over information about a deposition. When Rachel insists she doesn’t have it, the unmasked men threaten to take them to the basement and make them talk. Rachel knows this won’t end happily since the men took their masks off, and she can identify one of them, Finn. But, Finn’s plans don’t go as expected when the doorbell rings.

Mercury Carter is a deliveryman, but he’s an insistent one with some unusual skills. His father was a mailman, and when he was murdered, Merc applied to the United States Postal Inspection Service, a federal agency that has powers to arrest. But, Merc wanted to find his father’s killer, and his career ended with a traumatic brain injury when he was shot during that investigation. Merc doesn’t have a lot of job skills, but he’s determined and he’s insistent every delivery will go through.

When Merc suspects something is wrong at Rachel’s house, he takes out two of the men, but Rachel is kidnapped. With Glenn in tow, Merc follows across Indiana to Chicago and Illinois. After all, he has a package to deliver to Rachel.

Welsh-Huggins did an excellent job incorporating Merc’s backstory into the current one. And, he introduces new characters carefully, so they’re easily remembered without overwhelming the reader. If you like James Byrne’s thrillers featuring Dez Limerick, check out this series. The heroes are totally different. But, Merc is the kind of ordinary man it’s easy to root for. I’m hoping for future adventures.

Andrew Welsh-Huggins’ website is https://www.andrewwelshhuggins.com/.

The Mailman by Andrew Welsh-Huggins. The Mysterious Press, 2025. ISBN 9781613166109 (hardcover), 360p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publicist sent a copy of the book, with no expectations of a positive review.