When a U.S. ambassador's wife is found murdered in her palatial home, Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney makes the case his top priority. But before the investigation even gets off the ground, Kerney is railroaded by an FBI team acting under the cloak of national security. Now, as Kerney watches from the sidelines, the crime scene is sanitized, witnesses disappear, and the case is cleared with trumped-up evidence that Kerney just can't buy. No amount of threats will deter him. No sinister warnings will coerce him to let the case lie. For Kerney, the investigation has only just begun -- and it's one he may not survive.
This entry in McGarrity's well-realized Kevin Kerney series (following Judas Judge) features a strong, likable protagonist who is now, after holding a variety of law enforcement assignments, Santa Fe's new police chief. As in all of McGarrity's books, the New Mexico setting, this time primarily within the city of Santa Fe, is as much a presence as the supporting characters, who are all intriguing and believable. It all begins with the murder of the estranged wife of an ambassador-at-large, a crime that brings in federal operatives concerned about national security issues. A second, seemingly unconnected murder of a visiting priest-scholar eventually reveals to Kerney and his detectives that there is far more to both killings than the feds are letting on. Deftly weaving the hunt for the solution to these murders with Kerney's adjustment to his new position and his long-distance relationship with his pregnant wife, McGarrity has written a good, stand-alone mystery and added another solid chapter to a wonderful mystery series. Highly recommended. Ann Forister, Roseville P.L., CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
About the only law-enforcement job Kevin Kerney (ex—sheriff's lieutenant, ex—Forest Service, ex—New Mexico State Police) hasn't held yet is Chief of the Santa Fe Police Department, and that's where this sixth case finds him. But before he can even get the normal trials of new leadership—reallocating funds, cutting deadwood, learning the political ropes—out of the way, he hits the ground running with the murder of Phyllis Terrell, the defiantly promiscuous estranged wife of a powerful US ambassador without portfolio. In minutes, it seems, an FBI task force is all over the case, and in the time it takes Kerney to question Phyllis's Mexican landscaper and turn him loose, task force head Charlie Perry has wrapped up the case. As Perry smugly tells Kerney, Scott Gatlin, who managed the ranch of Phyllis's wealthy father and warmed her bed along with dozens of others, has shot himself after obligingly leaving behind a full confession. This neat solution is chilling news, since it strongly suggests a government cover-up whose tentacles reach high and deep. Digging into the apparently unrelated killing of a Marymount priest, Kerney and a pair of trusted cops trace a nefarious plot that extends from legal maneuvering—wiretaps, disinformation, court orders to turn over evidence—to murder by government decree. McGarrity (The Judas Judge, 2000, etc.) is just the writer to keep the high-octane conspiracy clear, even though individual victims don't have time to leave much of an impression. Kerney's mind-boggling look at your tax dollars at work is his finest hour yet.
"McGarrity gets better and better." —Tony Hillerman
"One of the most chilling and satisfying thrillers of the year." —Los Angeles Times
"In mixing thriller with mystery, McGarrity has struck gold." —Houston Chronicle
When an estranged ambassador's wife and then a priest are murdered and the FBI is all over the crime scene, Kevin Kerney, Chief of Santa Fe Police, becomes suspicious. As evidence either disappears or is covered up, the FBI warns him off, but Kerney becomes embroiled in untangling a covert operation. David Purdham performs this mystery, which focuses on the politics of law enforcement and the manipulation of facts. Purdham's fascination with the details carries the listener along scene by scene, as he juggles all the characters and their Southwestern attitudes as the cover-up is created and unraveled. The suspense and suspicion never let up until this convoluted investigation is wrapped up tight. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
