4.5

Book source ~ ARC. My review is voluntary and honest.

Detectives Liz Boyle and Tom Goran work in the Special Homicides division of the Cleveland Police Department. They handle the cases where a child has been killed. Liz is on the edge after an officer involved shooting and she’s seeing a therapist (and making very little progress) when they get the case of a five-year-old boy found dead in The Flats. The Flats was never the greatest part of town, but it’s really gotten bad over the years. What was this boy doing down here and who killed him? As Liz and Tom keep digging they come up with very little, until they catch a break. Will they apprehend the killer or will the killer catch Liz?

First off, I want to state I picked this book solely on the fact it’s set in Cleveland, in the Flats. I’m originally from Ohio and I’d been to the Flats a few times, so I was curious as to how the author would portray it. I haven’t been there since the mid-90s when my favorite place was The Powerhouse and the arcade within. I stayed mostly on the West Bank though and the book’s murder takes place on the East, so it’s possible that the East Bank has not fared as well as the West which is a bummer. In any case…

It’s bad enough a five-year-old is murdered, but Liz and Tom have virtually no leads. Well, they have leads, but nothing they can take to a judge. Dammit! Why is police work so tedious and, and…lawful?! Ok, so yeah there needs to be laws to protect people, but damn, how do LEOs handle it? Don’t answer that. I’ve read the statistics. Anyway…

This is one hell of a good mystery! I was kept guessing until nearly the end. The end! I love when an author stumps me. I love the process of the investigation and all the twists, curveballs, and sudden left turns it can take. This story gives a pretty accurate description of what police work is like, but condensed because this isn’t real life. We gotta get to the end and catch the Big Bad, you know. Excellent writing, great characters, and an awesome mystery. My only complaint is about Liz. It’s probably not fair because she is a flawed character, but some of her actions just pissed me off. I can’t help it, so there it is. All-in-all this is a mystery lover’s dream.