Book Review: Crime School

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Crime School     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Carol O'Connell
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Thriller   Woman Main Character
Series: Kathy Mallory # 6
Putnam, September 2002, $24.95, 352 pp.

She was a wild child living on the New York streets with only a few uncaring prostitutes to watch over her at times. She was saved from that sordid existence when a kindly police officer and his sweet wife brought her into their home. Their love ultimately saved Kathy Mallory, turning her into one of the finest detectives in the special crimes unit of the Big Apple.

Twenty years ago, a woman was killed in her apartment but thanks to sloppy police work the killer was never found. Two decades later, a prostitute is killed in a similar manner. The police theorize that it’s a copycat killing even if they don’t understand how the perpetrator has the details that were kept from the public. Mallory is one of the investigators on the case as a series of murders connect Kathy the child to Mallory the policewoman.

It has been four long years since a Kathy Mallory novel was published but the long wait was worth it. Fans of Mallory actually get to see her as a child surviving by her wits on the street. Carol O’Connell still has the magic touch when it comes to creating fascinating police procedurals that enthrall the audience. Let’s hope we won’t have to wait another four years for a novel starring this complex yet likable heroine.

Harriet Klausner

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