Like her fellow homicide detectives, Jennifer Castle spends
long hours
interacting with the underbelly of society, which leaves
little time for a
personal life. When the sexually frustrated Jennifer -- who
happens to work
with an all-male crew -- isn't bickering with her
dysfunctional family, or
avoiding her ex-lover the city pathologist, she's fending
off her matchmaking
mother's attempts to find her an eligible man to marry. As
a result, Jennifer
pours all of her frustrations into her crime-solving work,
which she does well.
On a cold November evening Jennifer is called to the scene
of a homicide in a
men's restroom at the Greyhound bus station. It appears to
be the typical
murder of a man who drowned in a toilet bowl. But when the
death is ruled
as a simple heart attack, Jennifer's gut instinct and
experience tell her it's
murder. And despite a disparaging partner and threats from
her boss, she
refuses to back down on the investigation until the case is
solved.
After she surveys the evidence Jennifer still has no
concrete proof that a
murder occurred, and her only witness is a homeless drunk
who claims an
alien killed the victim and escaped through the bathroom
wall. But Jennifer is
not deterred, and with her partner Eddie, pursues every
lead. Unfortunately,
their investigation leads them to a group of powerful men --
a judge, an
assistant district attorney, and a doctor. And it's not
long before someone
tries to kill Jennifer, and succeeds in killing two
additional victims, before the
first crime is solved. With lack of evidence and a few
angry powerful suspects,
the boss gives Jennifer an additional 24 hours to solve the
crime. The clock
ticks as
Jennifer and her partner hunt for a killer who doesn't seem
to exist.
Michelle Acker's well-crafted science fiction mystery
twists and turns toward
a conclusion which involves a biker gang, a sex scandal,
blackmail, an Asian
beetle, and a time travel device.
Acker is a talented writer with a good grasp of the
elements of fiction craft -
- plot, character, and dialogue. The subplot weaves the
mystery together and
remains suspenseful until the final two chapters when both
murderer and
motive are revealed. The characters have distinctive
personalities. The main
character is tough enough to hold her own in an all-male
police department,
yet she is also vulnerable and compassionate with an
infectious sense of
humor. However, the main character reveals a development
flaw when
her ex-boyfriend coerces her into participating in a
juvenile contest that's
atypical of the personality the author created.
Told in first person narrative, with alternating chapters
told in third person,
the story flips between the years 2007 and 2027. Most of
the dialogue is
effective and moves the story forward while it also reveals
significant
backstory.
This is a solid mystery and Detective Jennifer Castle is a
funny, strong,
memorable character who deserves another book. Readers will
enjoy her first
story.
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