The body of an elderly woman is discovered in a park in Gramercy Square. She has been killed in broad daylight, but there is not a single witness.
Inspector Louis Markowitz, who commands the Special Crime Section in New York, dies defending another Gramercy Square victim, and Sergeant Kathleen Mallory takes up the case. Mallory is a crimes' analyst, a woman who prefers the company of computers to people. Now she must do field work for the first time, hunting humans.
Mallory's motives, however, are very personal. Louis Markowitz rescued her as a child from a life of petty crime on the streets of New York, and adopted her as his daughter. The investigation into a possible serial killer is also an investigation into Mallory's damaged psyche, and into a disturbed and dangerous urban universe.
This is the debut of a remarkable new talent - an author who has created a broodingly atmospheric, psychotic city landscape and a fascinating and original character in her computer genius detective heroine.
"Sgt. Kathleen Mallory is one of the most original and intriguing detectives you'll ever meet. In fact, Mallory's Oracle is stocked with characters who are richly unforgettable, even by New York standards. This novel is wild, sly and breathless—all things that a good thriller ought to be." —Carl Hiaasen
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