The murderers

In Philadelphia in the 1970s, mayoral and police department politics were a lot tougher for the city's cops than for the hoodlums and bad guys; it was the era of Frank Rizzo, the beat cop turned police commissioner turned mayor. Rizzo, who really did wear his nightstick tucked into his cummerbund at formal functions so he could respond to police dispatcher's calls, often used the cops as a tool in his political career. The Murderers is volume six in Griffin's popular Badge of Honor series, the fictional saga of the police force during Rizzo's fascinating tenure. Griffin knows Philly, the Philadelphia PD, and cops, and he fills his novels with vast amounts of detail as proof of that knowledge. His style sometimes even takes on the convoluted cop-speak found in police reports. He might, for example, take two pages to describe the route a character drives from Chestnut Hill to Center City. Yet, somehow, such excesses become virtues in the eyes of his readers. Griffin writes very much to a formula (he's also the author of similar series about the army and the marines), but that formula is agreeable to a large, devoted following. The faithful will be asking for The Murderers. (Reviewed November 15, 1994)0399139761Thomas Gaughan

One challenge of series writing is to make each individual novel stand on its own, and Griffin almost succeeds with this fast-paced slice-of-cop-life entry in his Badge of Honor series, the sixth volume overall (after The Assassin) and the first to be published in hardcover. The story, set in 1975, centers around the murder of Philadelphia policeman Jerry Kellog, perhaps committed by a corrupt cop because Kellog's wife, who's left him for another cop, has revealed that her husband's narcotics unit is dirty. Meanwhile, bar owner Gerry Atchison hires a small-time hit man to kill his cheating wife and his thieving business partner. Finding solutions to the three murders unites Giffin's huge cast of characters, among them high-profile detective Matt Payne and take-charge Sgt. Jason Washington, both of Special Operations. Heavy on the dialogue and action, with a touch of politics and a dash of soap opera, this swiftly paced novel has the feel of a breezy, expansive ensemble piece. But it lacks the solidity of many stand-alone novels and, though engaging enough, gives the impression of characters and an author who are already looking toward the next book. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This is the first hardcover in Griffin's series about the exploits of a group of cops in Philadelphia, but, thanks to his "Saga of the Corps" and "Brotherhood of War" series, the author is no stranger to the best sellers lists. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.