Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Southern Cross
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Patricia Cornwell
Class/Genre: Mystery
Series: Judy Hammer # 2
Putnam, Jan 1999, $25.95, 359 pp.
Charlotte police chief Judy Hammer remains shaken up by the death of her aristocratic but weak spouse. To escape the ghosts that haunt her she applies and receives an NIH grant and is subsequently hired by the city of Richmond to clean up its police force. Judy plans to model her approach after the successful New York COMSTAT prototype. To assist her on her endeavor, Judy brings with her deputy chief Virginia West and police officer Andy Brazil. Upon arrival, the trio meets strong opposition from long term residents who resent the outsiders and their New York Yankee ideas.
Like most American cities, Richmond is loaded with its own peculiar eccentricities, high levels of crime, and a growing gang problem. Judy confronts a wide range of administrative problems such as pacifying pandering politicians and eliminating the blue fish screen saver that locks them out of COMSTAT. The trio also struggles to save a child being courted by a teen gang led by a dynamic psychopath. Finally, the heroic threesome battles corruption and resentment in an attempt to reform the police department.
SOUTHERN CROSS, the sequel to HORNET'S NEST, is a serio-comic police thriller that reminds readers of POLICE SQUAD. The three stars are warm, witty, and somewhat frustrated. However, a warning label goes with this novel and its predecessor. Beware that this novel is not a Kay Scarpetta tale, nor is it an effort to take the renowned forensic medical examiner and relocate and rename her. Instead, Patricia Cornwell heads in an entirely different direction that turns into a different but enjoyable reading experience.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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