Review by Booklist Review
Clarissa Easterbrook was a judge in Portland, Oregon, and the wife of a prominent surgeon--until her lifeless body was found near a construction site at the city's edge. Samantha Kincaid, new to the district attorney's Major Crimes Unit, is assigned the case. When Samantha learns that Clarissa was having an affair, suspicion centers on the spouse. Could the doctor have been inspired to perform cranial surgery with a hunk of granite? But the forensic evidence forms a circumstantial case against a former drug addict who could lose his home and possibly his kids based on a ruling by the late judge. As Samantha digs, however, it seems less likely that this was a crime of passion or anger. The second Kincaid mystery by the daughter of James Lee Burke is a very clever whodunit long on red herrings, shadowy motives, and sly humor. The author's background as a former deputy DA in Portland lends gritty ambience to this modern parable of greed and ambition. --Wes Lukowsky Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Burke's lively second Samantha Kincaid mystery (after 2003's Judgment Calls), the Deputy District Attorney has just joined the Major Crimes Unit in Portland, Ore., when a local judge, Clarissa Easterbrook, goes missing and is then found murdered. As Kincaid sifts through possible suspects, she also adjusts to the personalities in her new office, including her surprisingly friendly supervisor. Evidence of the judge's affair with a politician and an increasingly confusing crush of contracts, judgments and financial papers make it difficult to believe that Kincaid would seriously consider Melvin Jackson, a poor black man, as the likely murderer. A former drug addict, Jackson was in danger of losing custody of his kids in a case Easterbrook was considering just before her death. Eventually, Kincaid turns to a more obvious source of trouble. Kincaid is an appealing if perhaps too familiar a type-a slightly seasoned, feisty woman who runs impressive distances and confides her endearing foibles to the reader. Burke does a good job of integrating the political and personal lives of her characters, with the detectives of the Major Crimes Unit being particularly well drawn. Witty and concise dialogue helps redeem the somewhat stiff plotting. Agent, Philip Spitzer. (June 2) Forecast: Blurbs from such big names as Sue Grafton, Lee Child, Michael Connelly and Linda Fairstein, plus Burke's being the daughter of James Lee Burke, should help ensure a successful national author tour. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Following an impressive debut (Judgment Calls), Burke's Samantha Kincaid returns for another adventure, this time revolving around the disappearance of Portland city judge Clarissa Easterbrook. Samantha, newly assigned to the city's Major Crimes Unit, investigates. After an initially cold trail, strong evidence quickly surfaces, and an obvious suspect is arrested. Samantha then unearths the pasts of both the victim and her family and friends, which indicate more complicated reasons for Easterbrook's disappearance. To make matters even thornier, Samantha also learns that her father may have indirect knowledge of the incident, owing to his past involvement with some of the case's players. With excellent pacing, Burke strikes a nice balance between the cops and the lawyers. She doesn't force the drama, and the dialog is better here than in her first effort. This one should be popular with those who enjoy a little mystery with their crime fiction. [Previewed in Mystery Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/01.]-Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Oxford, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Promoted from Vice to Major Crimes, Portland (OR) Deputy DA Samantha Kincaid (Judgment Calls, 2003) gets her first murder case. Twelve hours after leaving his wife Clarissa home in bed, Dr. Townsend Easterbrook returns to find her missing. But one of her shoes soon turns up, followed by her dog--spotted in an unlikely parking lot a few miles away--and, in due time, her corpse, battered and left outside an office park. Who would have reason to kill an administrative-law judge, most of whose civil cases were both low-stakes and routine? The cops suspect the grieving widower, but after a ham-handed full-court press on him backfires in a shower of lawyers, they fix on an easier target: Melville Jackson, a janitor/handyman who was evicted from his public housing on Clarissa Easterbrook's orders. The case seems perfect. Jackson repeatedly threatened the victim; his fingerprints are on the knocker of her front door; and the hammer that killed her is found in his place. Any other prosecutor would sit back and enjoy the ride, but Samantha's soon brewing schemes with Jackson's shaggy court-appointed counsel, figuring out whether the defendant could have been framed by folks whose power stretches from the legal system to her own family. A deftly extended episode of Law & Order, whose structure it mimics without adding anything compelling or new. Burke's neatest surprise is why Samantha, tossed off her first big case, ends up happy anyway. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
