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IN THE GUISE OF MERCY
by Wendy Hornsby
Perseverance, September 2010
264 pages
$14.99
ISBN: 1564744825


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Maggie MacGowen finds that one way to deal with her grief after the death of her husband is to work on his last request. Mike Flint was a cop in LA; ten years ago a kid disappeared from his police car and was never seen again. Mike wants Maggie to find out what happened to Jesus Ramon. Maggie is a documentary filmmaker; she parlays Mike's last request into a proposal for a documentary. Dealing with this last request by making a film about the story enables Maggie to keep some objectivity about the case, and gives her a bit of much-needed distance as she deals with something that was very important to her husband. It also forces her to confront the possibility that Mike was not always the perfect cop, that he may have made some serious mistakes and/or bad choices.

There are lots of people who are unhappy with Maggie's decision to make this film. Mike's partner at the time, his current partner, some of the people directly connected to the case at the time - they all would like this left alone. Some of the people in Mike's files are gone, some are very hard to locate, and some don't want to talk to Maggie. It's all grist for her mill. The deeper Maggie gets into this old case, the more potential for danger, either to her or to the people she is investigating.

Readers have been waiting for a new Hornsby for a long time. It's been almost worth it. Almost, because it's been too long, not because this book isn't up to Hornsby's previous work. It is. Maggie and all the people around her truly care for her husband, even if they don't like the job he's given her. Maggie's attempts to work this documentary in a truly professional manner, and still deal with the loss of her husband in a healthy way, is written incredibly well. Hornsby's ability to show the ripple effect, short-term and long-term, on police and family, of Ramon's disappearance is deeply moving. The final result of the documentary is a testament to the reality of police work, as well as a loving memorial to Mike. This book was a real pleasure to read, and one hopes for more, sooner rather than later.

§ P.J. Coldren lives in northern lower Michigan where she reads and reviews widely across the mystery genre when she isn't working in her local hospital pharmacy.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, September 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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