Review: Making a Killing

Our second case with Inspector Jacobson and his crew and it’s a doozy. This book has some nice twists and turns, and nothing is quite what it seems. And the core of the book is good police work and the police doing it.

The book starts out with a woman in a troubled marriage. She wants out and she knows where she’s going to go when she leaves. She decides to tell her husband, a corporate bigshot, at a party on a wealthy estate figuring there would be less of a scene. She figured wrong. Gus Mortimer wasn’t daunted by the large number of people when he grabs his wife by the hair and drags her out to the car. This is the prelude to the body of his wife Jenny being found dead the next morning in there own drive way.

Now, I’m not a cop, but I read a lot of mysteries and this looks to me like a slam dunk of a case. And of course Jacobson and his crew feel the same way. Motive, opportunity, and means. Of course Gus is belaboring his innocence the whole time. But with good police work, they start making the case against him. Which will later lead us into some interesting territory....

In the background of this investigation, an ex-con known as the Crowby Crawler moves into a halfway house in Crowby. This is not a welcome state of events for the families of his victims. The rapist has more than a few people who want him. So the police are watching him; to keep him from causing more trouble, and to keep him safe from lynch mobs. Complicating this scenario is the fact that a new chief inspector is getting ready to take charge, and he wants to play it corporate style. In other words, he wants to save money and use computer readouts to tell him what to do. Which leads to any number of goof ups on his part.

The book pulls the reader along like a water skier behind a speed boat. It’s fast and engrossing. The characters are all engaging and seem to be a typical cross section of life. The way the book resolves itself is very satisfying. I grinned while I read the last pages.

Book Review: Making a Killing