Book Review: Fatal Truth

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Fatal Truth     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Robin Burcell
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Woman Main Character
Series: Kate Gillespie
Avon, August 2002, $6.50, 288 pp.

Kate Gillespie is a homicide inspector in the San Francisco police department. Her brother worked in the same department, but a dozen years ago while an Internal Affairs investigation was going on into his activities when he died of an overdose. Now Kate works very hard to make up for her brother’s mistakes. When a snitch calls her to set up a meeting, she goes to the meeting point only to find her mark gunned down in cold blood by another police officer.

She calls the one officer she trusts, police officer Mike Torrance. They meet at a local cop bar when they find out that the officer who killed Kate’s snitch is now dead, the victim of a hit and run. Kate is assigned to investigate the officer’s death and it doesn’t take her long to learn there are other officers that are dirty and this case ties back to her brother’s suicide.

Fans of police procedurals and crime thrillers will definitely enjoy reading FATAL TRUTH. The heroine is a person who obeys the rules except when the lives of her family are at stake, a situation that immediately endears her to the audience. Robin Burcell, a police officer herself, shows the gritty work involved in policing a big city.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner