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I hate when I start reading a new book and realize it is part of a series, and not the beginning. But in this case, though I may have missed some of the interpersonal undercurrents between the characters, I thought the book read quite well on its own without having read the earlier books. This is a different kind of police mystery than I have read before. It is much more about the police legwork in solving a pair of crimes that appear to be linked. Instead of the characters racing for their lives or involved in tense dramatic situations, they do more of what I assume police detectives do in real life: they look at evidence and talk to people and plan their investigations even when one of them has a gut feeling about who the guilty party may be. Though not the same kind of page turner as a pure thriller-type novel, this book kept my interest on a more intellectual basis. In addition, there was a lot of emotional content as well. There was some jockeying for position among the various offers, the undercurrent of the rookie officer's crush on her married boss along with her need to impress him and be complimented and the rookie's interactions with a suspect who was her former boss. I enjoyed the book enough that I plan to go back and read the earlier ones in the series.

In Pittsburgh homicide squad Commander Richard Christie has some doubts with the new guy make that gal assigned to his unit. He likes rookie detective Colleen Greer's enthusiasm, but also fears her excess zeal could prove dangerous to her and the team. Still he has no choice but to toss her into the ocean while a hurricane hits. Richard has two homicides to investigate. The first victim is Laura McCall, who Greer knows from working for her separated husband David Hoffman at a counseling clinic. The second is a child who Greer knows once again from her time at the clinic. Like her married boss, who she is attracted to; Greer wonders if Hoffman killed his wife and the child, but has some doubts as a niggling suspicion in her gut points to someone else she knew in her clinic days. The third Christie Pittsburgh police procedural (see TAKEN and FALLEN) is a strong tale due to the simmering relationship between the commander and the rookie. Although this is Greer's first tale, her key appearance adds tension to the veteran homicide detective and will remind series fans more so of TAKEN in which Richard's wife Marina Benedict requested a separation. The mystery is well done especially as David asks his former employee for favors, which make him appear even guiltier to her, but it is the newbie who steals the show on a personal front with her hero worship attraction and her on the job investigative training. Harriet Klausner