Alafair Burke Close Case

Close Case

Alafair Burke

Holt, July 2005, $21.00, 336 pp.

ISBN: 0805077847

Multnomah County, Oregon Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid has her thirty-second birthday disrupted when she is assigned to work a highly visible homicide, the murder of investigative reporter Percy Crenshaw. Samantha goes to the Portland crime scene where she learns the victim was bludgeoned to death in his driveway. Not long afterward the police get a confession from a young man Todd Corbett who also points the finger at his pal Trevor Hanks.

However, Todd recants the confession insisting the police used questionable tactics. Since the city is already in an outrage protesting law enforcement excesses especially the shooting death of African American Delores Tompkins by a white police officer, Samantha's simple case falls apart. Still Samantha, knowing she is under "trial" after her previous media case, begins tracing Crenshaw's paths to find who had motive. She never expected that her inquiries to take her into a cooperative police - drug trafficking. Her cop pals including her boyfriend object to Samantha's involvement, which could also lead to her murder if she is not careful.

The latest Kincaid legal thriller is a dynamic tale that sub-genre fans will want to read as soon as possible. The storyline provides fascinating legal battles like the dispute over Crenshaw's work files that are totally interwoven into the plot. Samantha is a dedicated courageous Deputy District Attorney, who tries her best to bring a killer to justice though her compatriots will question her methods, but readers will not. Instead they will take pleasure in CLOSE CASE, a fine thriller.

Harriet Klausner