William de_Rham's Reviews > Hide

I’m finding this police procedural/psychological thriller well-written and absorbing with compelling characters driven by internal and external conflict.

Homicide detective Harriet Foster has 17 years of experience as a Chicago cop. African-American and divorced as the result of her son's murder, she’s also just lost her long-time partner on the force to a suicide she never saw coming. Now, after extended leave, she’s back on the job at a new squad with a new partner, Jim Lonergan, who’s a real “dinosaur.” Before “Harri” has even had time to settle into her desk, she and Lonergan are sent to the scene of the grisly murder of Peggy Birch a blue-eyed, red-headed young woman. A Black teen was found unconscious only yards away from the body with a spot of blood on his clothing. Brash, bullying, opinionated, and rushing to judgment, Lonergan wants to arrest the teen immediately. Foster, who by the middle of the morning has just about had it with her new partner's chauvinism, knows they need to wait and see what the evidence has to say.

Meanwhile, adult twin brother and sister, Bodie and Amelia, wrestle with their upbringing by a father who had a penchant for murdering young, red-headed women with blue eyes. They haven’t seen him for years, not since he dropped them off as freshmen at college, both of their tuitions completely paid. But the years they spent under his roof, where they became aware of what he was doing, have left their mark. Might one of them be involved in the murder? Or their father, if he's even still alive?

Or how about one of Peggy’s friends from college? Or an ex-boyfriend? Or one of the people with whom she attended yesterday’s “defund the police” rally.

It’s a murder mystery filled with suspects as well as many of the topical issues of today: racism, sexism, police power, women as police, stalking, and the psychology of alienated “outsiders,” to name just a few. The prose and dialogue are first-rate. Ms. Clark writes about police procedure and culture as surefootedly as if she had been a Chicago detective.

It’s the first time I’ve read any of Ms. Clarke's work. Based on this outing, I’m positive it won’t be the last.