David Hosp The Betrayed

The Betrayed

David Hosp

Warner, Jul 2006, $24.95

ISBN 0446576956

Washington DC Homicide Detective Sergeant Darius Train and Detective Jack Cassian lead the investigation into the murder of thirty-six years old Washington Post reporter Elizabeth Creay. The victim had her throat slashed, but apparently the culprit carelessly left behind a cigarette lighter with a fingerprint on it. The match in the files is with drug dealer Jerome Washington.

The politicians, the brass and the media are happy with who is the prime suspect and want the sleuths to concentrate on finding more evidence on Washington. However, the two veteran cops think this seems too easy so they widen their search by looking at other possible suspects including some people who have pushed to limit the inquiry to Washington. Complicating the case is the arrival of Creay's sister Sydney Chapin who needs to know the truth and if officialdom fails to pursue it, she will. As the detectives and the amateur sleuth investigate, the case takes an odd spin into eugenics and especially secret illegal experiments at the Virginia Juvenile Institute for the Mentally Defective, followed by more homicides.

THE BETRAYED starts off as an exhilarating police procedural enhanced by an alluring amateur sleuth subplot. The spin into eugenics spotlights a social issue, but doesn't blend smoothly into the storyline although it is very interesting. Still the lead detectives are a delightful pairing of opposites struggling to do the right thing in an atmosphere in which everyone else except for the interfering sibling wants to hang Washington and cease any other inquiry.

Harriet Klausner