Well-constructed Suspenseful Read, January 22, 2004
|
Reviewer: Sheri Melnick from Enola, PA United
States |
Fairstein's heroine, Alex Cooper, prosecutor in charge of
Manhattan's Sex Crimes Unit, returns once again with sidekicks
Detective Mike Chapman and Detective Mercer Wallace.
With a rape prosecution against defendant Andrew Tripping
on her plate, Alex becomes concerned when she feels that the
victim, Paige Vallis, a thirty-six-year-old investment banker,
hasn't been entirely forthcoming.
Frustration becomes Alex's constant companion, as she seems
unable to interview Andrew's young son, Dulles, who was
present during the alleged rape.
With her own decades of experience in the position held by
protagonist Alex, Fairstein enlivens this novel with a sense
of realism compounded with both the difficulties and triumphs
of the career of a prosecutor, as well as the close
relationships formed with the police detectives, a
prosecutor's closest allies.
And when Alex begins investigating the murder of a
poverty-stricken McQueen Ransome, an elderly woman in Harlem,
she learns that McQueen had led quite a fascinating life,
dancing around the world and later becoming mistress of the
infamous King Farouk of Egypt.
And according to Spike Logan, a graduate student
interviewing her about her life experiences, Queenie helped
herself to some of Farouk's rare collection of valuables when
she left his palatial home.
As the crimes against Paige Vallis and McQueen begin to
form a connection, Alex encounters some frightening moments of
her own, as she is stalked in Manhattan and at her home on
Martha's Vineyard.
With clues mounting in the continuous investigations of
these two crimes, Alex begins to fear for her life in this
craftily constructed novel replete with mystery and suspense. |
