Book Review: Murder in Hell's Kitchen

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Murder in Hell's Kitchen     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Lee Harris
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Police Procedural
Series: Jane Bauer # 1
Fawcett, Aril 2003, $6.99, 320 pp.

After almost twenty years in the New York City Police Department, Detective Jane Bauer is near retirement and ready to start a cushy job in an insurance company. Her last three months will be spent on the newly formed cold case task force. She is assigned the case of Arlan Quill, who was killed in the entranceway of his apartment building. When she goes to talk to some of Quill’s neighbor, she learns that every tenant who lived in the building while Quill resided there is gone.

Nobody leaves a rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan and further investigation shows that all the former tenants except one are dead and circumstances taken as a whole make it look like wholesale contract killings. Jane traces the last tenant to Omaha where she learns that he is scared for his life. Shortly afterward, he is beaten with in an inch of his life, which means there is a mole in the department who had Jane followed to her witness. When Jane returns home, she traces the killer to one of his lairs and almost loses her life in the process.

Lee Bennett, the author of the cozy Christine Bennett mysteries, has written an exciting, stimulating gritty urban noir police procedural that displays the wide range of the author’s talent. The heroine is a three dimensional character whose personal life shows she is a caring person while as a cop she is a dedicated pro who goes all out even with her career winding down. The plot is fast paced with never a dull moment but the heart of MURDER IN HELL’S KITCHEN are the men and women in blue who risk their lives to keep the streets safe.

Harriet Klausner

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