Kirkus
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Working without his customary partner, ex-cop Terry Quinn, private eye Derek Strange tackles a case that’s both more and less complicated than it seems. Well-heeled drug lawyer Billy Lake wants Strange to firm up his defense of Antone Anthony, who’s been charged with possession with intent to distribute, to which he admits, and murder, to which he doesn’t. Cynthia Barnes, who works at DC Dogcare, has told homicide Detective C.J. Preston that after spending some time with Nigel Walker, she dropped him off at his car, which he planned to drive to a meeting with Anthony to discuss Walker’s unpaid debt to him. When Walker’s shot in that car by a gun identified as Anthony’s, Preston isn’t inclined to look elsewhere, even though Anthony’s friend Kenneth Norton offers him an alibi for the time of the murder. Can Strange provide any support for the alibi or cast any doubt on Cynthia’s testimony? The results of his investigation are inconclusive—with one startling exception: Three weeks later, a body eventually identified as Cynthia’s is found dead of a fentanyl overdose, squeezed into a chest freezer, and dumped in an urban junkyard. Strange, who’s long since sent Lake his bill, feels drawn to look more closely into the death of Cynthia, whom he’d been drawn toward, even though he can expect cooperation from no one involved, including Cynthia’s irate father, ex-cop John Barnes, and Kara Harlow, Cynthia’s friend and companion in misadventure. Instead of a big reveal, Pelecanos provides an unsettling view of Strange’s dealings with D.C. Metro Homicide as he digs beneath the smug skin of the nation’s capital. Eloquent testimony to the hero’s sense that “there was no such thing as closure.” Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.