212 features recurring lead character Ellie Hatcher, an NYPD Detective. In 212 Ellie and her partner Rogan catch a homicide in a penthouse belonging to one of the city's wealthiest men. Although he claims no knowledge of how and why his bodyguard was using the suite, he seems to be trying to control the direction of Ellie's investigation. As does the judge involved....
Rogan and Ellie catch a second murder case. A young college student had previously complained to the police about anonymous online threats directed at her. Those threats escalated - to murder. As they dive into their latest case, the detectives discover a link between the two murders. One that someone doesn't want found...
Ellie is a great protagonist. She smart, tough, dogged and determined. The partnership between her and Rogan works - they're quite opposite personalities. I enjoyed the secondary story lines featuring her brother Jess (a dark horse I'm sure we'll hear more about) and Ellie's love life. The dialogue flows easily and the cases are realistic and not cut and dried. It was only on reading the author notes at the back, that I discovered the ideas for this book did indeed spring from newspaper headlines. That note of reality also springs from Burke's background. She herself is a former prosecutor and now teaches criminal law.
212 was a really good read and a series I will now be following. ( But I had no problem reading 212 as a stand alone.) I'll also be checking out the other series Burke pens featuring Portland Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid. Read an excerpt of 212. Burke's new novel Long Gone releases today.Fans of police procedurals and authors such as Karin Slaughter and Linda Fairstein would enjoy this author.
You can find Alafair Burke on Facebook and on Twitter. (And an interesting sidenote - Alafair Burke is the daughter of lengendary author James Lee Burke)
See what others on the TLC tour thought.
I've been meaning to add Alafair Burke to my list of authors that I read for a long time. Thanks for the reminder and I'm glad this book worked well for you!
ReplyDeleteI just saw this, for the first time, somewhere else, today. It looks really interesting.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I do love a good police procedural!
ReplyDeleteI love discovering a new-to-me series - it's such fun to be able to pick up one book right after the previous without having to wait for the next to come out!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks for being on the tour.