Close Case

Alafair Burke has shrugged off comparisons to her famous mystery-writer father and shown she has a style all her own. The Samantha Kincaid series is full of legal complexity, tightly spun plots, and an engaging female lead. Samantha is a living, breathing character. It's hard not to like this lady. Sam's a tough cookie, but she has a heart underneath her protective exterior. She also knows the ins and outs of the justice system. Once again, she is thrust into a murder mystery set in Portland, Oregon. This time, an investigative reporter has paid the ultimate price in his search for the truth. Samantha will risk her career, her friendships, and even love in an effort to get to the bottom of this violent act. Burke's strengths can sometimes be a weakness. She is so adept at conveying the inner workings of prosecutor and police procedures that she occasionally loses my emotional connection to the story. Fortunately, this happens only once or twice, and Burke grabs me again with her ability to wind readers deeper and deeper into a mystery. Only as the last pages turn do we discover all the layers involved. With "Close Case," Alafair Burke proves that she is a writer standing on her own merits, a writer who will be around for years to come. And I, for one, am thankful.

Samantha Kincaid has her hands full in CLOSE CASE by Alafair Burke. This is the third book featuring the Oregon Deputy District Attorney, who is enmeshed in a love affair with a detective; is called upon to investigate the shooting death by a white cop of an African-American woman, Delores Tompkins; and is the "go to" person who has to deal with the fallout of a neighborhood protest, held so that the authorities know the community will not accept a whitewash, where no justice is found for the victim, Tompkins. The rally ends in chaos. Then, to stir the pot even more, a beloved African-American investigative reporter and activist, Percy Crenshaw, is murdered outside his home after the vigil. The public outcry is heard by the powers that be, which sends the politicos scrambling to barricade themselves behind their staffs, who are expected to apply due diligence and solve the crimes. Samantha opines: "The news now ha[s] one more story to add to the pile of coverage about Delores Tompkins and the protest." Her boss tells her she is being assigned these cases because "It's not just their race ... haven't you picked up a paper in the last week? Officer Hamilton struck three bullets into that woman's head." Of course Samantha takes on both cases and in her inimitable way manages to maintain her integrity even while she inevitably shoves the noses of her superiors out of joint. Burke says of her feisty character, "A defining characteristic for Sam is her near-pathological obsession to pursue what she considers to be justice. She's so consumed by doing what's 'right' --- as she defines it --- she often screws up her [personal and work-related relationships, and] she doesn't want to sell out to office politics at the expense of her own moral vision." At first the cases seem unrelated. But the more Kincaid investigates, the more convinced she becomes that the killings are not isolated incidents. At the same time, she is forced to face the crosscurrents and divided loyalties among her colleagues: the cops begin to see her as a pariah, which becomes an insidious wedge between her and the detective she loves. But this DA will not be deterred in her quest to solve the crimes. According to the author, one of the devices that saves her is that "...Samantha's job takes her both into the courtroom in traditional ways [and] also out into the field with police during the investigation. The breadth of her official responsibilities gives me a great deal of flexibility in the storytelling. Some plot points are developed in court, but many are not." Alafair Burke was a DA in Portland, Oregon, and in an interview she explains why Samantha is also a DA: "I borrow details from my own courthouse experiences and about Portland itself. [Samantha spends little time in the courtroom because if I place her there, I am caught in] "... the limiting nature of courtroom discourse [which I believe] is not very dramatic. Also, realistically, prosecutors spend little...time in actua

Multnomah County, Oregon Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid has her thirty-second birthday disrupted when she is assigned to work a highly visible homicide, the murder of investigative reporter Percy Crenshaw. Samantha goes to the Portland crime scene where she learns the victim was bludgeoned to death in his driveway. Not long afterward the police get a confession from a young man Todd Corbett who also points the finger at his pal Trevor Hanks. However, Todd recants the confession insisting the police used questionable tactics. Since the city is already in an outrage protesting law enforcement excesses especially the shooting death of African American Delores Tompkins by a white police officer, Samantha's simple case falls apart. Still Samantha, knowing she is under "trial" after her previous media case, begins tracing Crenshaw's paths to find who had motive. She never expected that her inquiries to take her into a cooperative police- drug trafficking. Her cop pals including her boyfriend object to Samantha's involvement, which could also lead to her murder if she is not careful. The latest Kincaid legal thriller is a dynamic tale that sub-genre fans will want to read as soon as possible. The story line provides fascinating legal battles like the dispute over Crenshaw's work files that are totally interwoven into the plot. Samantha is a dedicated courageous Deputy District Attorney, who tries her best to bring a killer to justice though her compatriots will question her methods, but readers will not. Instead they will take pleasure in CLOSE CASE, a fine thriller. Harriet Klausner

This book was very difficult to put down. The plot moved along at a brisk pace and the sassy Sam Kincaid was as witty as ever. I definitely didn't see the surprise ending coming.

Realistic characters living and working in a fascinating mileu, skillful plotting, and an astute prose style make this book a standout. Deputy DA Samantha Kincaid is a member of the prestigious Major Crimes Unit in Portland, Oregon. Her reputation as a savvy attorney and investigator has been earned in the trenches. Whether law enforcement peers like her or not, they respect her intelligence and instincts. She has a brisk no- nonsense personal style and the uncanny knack of winning when the chips are down. Two unrelated cases put her life and reputation in jeopardy. The shooting of an unarmed black female civilian by a white cop has Portland's nerves on edge. Angry civilians are convinced the shooting was racially motivated. Then Portland's celebrity muckraker, Percy Crenshaw -- also black -- is bludgeoned to death just outside his apartment. Civilians are outraged by his murder; Kincaid and fellow investigators are mystified, until one suspect confesses to the crime. But will the questionable confession stand up to scrutiny? Disconnected leads take Samantha from one dead end to another as she investigates both crimes. As she untangles each small clue in Percy Crenshaw's notebooks, it soon becomes apparent that the killings were connected. Even members of the Portland Police Department are suspect, including her boyfriend Det. Chuck Forbes and his loose cannon partner Mike. Regardless of the outcome to her career and love life, Samantha digs for truths that might end up killing her. Close Case is an exciting suspense thriller, rich with the legal and law enforcement details intelligent readers of the genre crave. Critical praise received for the Samantha Kincaid Series is well-deserved.