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CLOSE CASE
by Alafair Burke
Henry Holt, July 2005
368 pages
$22.00
ISBN: 0805077847


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

For Samantha Kincaid's 32nd birthday she gets called to the scene of a murder. Hotshot investigative reporter Percy Crenshaw was violently killed in his carport. As Deputy District Attorney, Kincaid, needs to have this case run by the book. Since Crenshaw was an important person in the community, his death will result in a media frenzy.

The night of his death, several people were seen in the neighborhood acting in various criminal activities including minor riot-like behavior. Two suspects are found quickly and both confess to the murder. Unfortunately as Kincaid begins her case, she finds that not everything she was told by the suspects, the suspects' lawyers, the witnesses and the police are true. Somehow she has to find the secret of Crenshaw's death before anyone else is killed and her career is ruined.

CLOSE CASE is a well-written mystery. While Samantha Kincaid has her flaws and might not be someone that you always like, she is appealing and straightforward. She admits when she screws up and tries to work through a situation before it becomes too deadly or dangerous.

The narrative of this book, seen through the eyes of Kincaid, is breezy and fast paced. While she does not know what is going to happen, Kincaid plans to keep racing towards the finish line. At least this is how she approaches her professional life -- her personal life could use a little work.

CLOSE CASE deals with sensitive topics such as racial prejudices and racist cops. One of the other cases Kincaid is involved in is the death of a black single mother. A cop, in what should have been a routine traffic stop, killed her. No one is quite sure what happened but the fact that the victim was black and the officer was white makes the entire situation touchy. Until the facts are presented at the hearing, it is difficult to know whether or not the crime was racial motivated but that does not stop the public from speculating and feeling threatened.

CLOSE CASE is the third mystery featuring Samantha Kincaid.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, January 2006

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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