Review: Official Privilege

Have you ever wondered how investigations are handled in the military? Not only is this a good mystery, but it gives you a look at how things are handled when admirals and their executive assistants (EA) get involved. It provides a fascinating look at the internal politics at the top level of the navy, and how the good old boys watch out for each other, "for the good of the navy".

A young female lieutenant (jg) is having an affair with a very senior officer. When on of the EAs hires someone to strong-arm her, it goes tragically wrong and the young lady winds up dead. When her brother, who is also a Lieutenant (jg) gets involved, they try to strong-arm him and he winds up stuffed in the boiler of a mothballed battleship. Two years later, his body is found and the investigations and political powerplays begin.

The book is a bit long, but it's full of action. It gives you a really good idea of how much power an admiral has, and how hard it is for a mere commander to get anywhere in an investigation. Each admiral seems to have his own kingdom where he is absolute ruler. The EA (Executive Assistant) handles much of the running of the kingdom and speaks with the admirals authority. One of the investigators is commander Dan Collins who works in the pentagon. He has to work within the rigid caste system of the navy to perform a JAGMAN investigation. NIS (Naval Investigative Services) assigns him a civilian as liason with NIS. Grace Snow is a lawyer and former SEC investigator who accepted a political appointment from the president and was stuck in a dead end position in NIS when a new president took office. She doesn't exactly get a lot of cooperation from the rest of the NIS. There's also a DC detective (actually an EA within the DC police force) who plays a major role.

It's a good book. The characters are fleshed out and well written. The real puzzle in the book is finding out which EA really was responsible, and which admiral he was protecting. You'll be wondering till the very end.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, David Ball

Book Review: Official Privilege