About.com Rating



HarperCollins, August 2008

Alafair Burke (Close Case, Dead Connection) continues to expand the power and scope of her writing. In this, her fifth novel, she has soundly placed herself into the top level of those who write murder mysteries. She debuted in 2005 with the first of three Samantha Kincaid mysteries. These were set in the Northwest where Burke worked as a deputy district attorney. Angel's Tip is the second in her new Ellie Hatcher series.

These are set in New York City where Burke continues to teach criminal law at Hofstra University. In just three short years, she has reached the top of her craft.

Each series features a strong woman who overcomes the bias hurled at women who excel in the traditional male world of the criminal justice system. Nowhere is the bias more evident in the world of this novel than in the homicide division. Ellie has been on the force less than five years and on the homicide squad less than a week when a vicious murder falls at her feet.

The precipitating action is the murder of a young, beautiful college student on spring break. She's underage, and she is drunk. As Ellie's troglodyte boss expressed it, a beautiful blonde murder victim will be all over the news. Watch your local cable channels tonight and you will almost certainly see this truism played out. This Lieutenant Eckels does not believe Ellie is ready for the pressure. Plus, he had been a detective a few years earlier on a similar case, but he has not shared that information with anyone.

One wonders why.

The standard elements are here. Ellie is working on this major case and learning to get along with a new partner. Her boss does not trust her. She might be in love with a newspaperman who may or may not be using her for inside information. Ellie is disliked simply because she gained a great deal of media attention a couple of years ago when she proved that her father's "suicide" was really a murder. Each of these factors leads to the development of false leads and escalating tension. New York City should be safe, especially for college kids come to town. But, when Ellie discovers there may actually be a serial killer loose in the city, the potential for a media disaster intensifies. Burke has captured the ethos of the New York Police Department, the brotherhood of the Blue Line. In the hands of a lesser writer, these elements would be no more than clichés. Burkes imbues each element with life, making us believe that we are reading it for the first time, and eager to discover the truth.

As in the splendid novels of Peter Robinson, Burke's protagonist solves crimes through legwork (Maybe not the most politically correct metaphor for a female detective!), dogged persistence, and intellectual effort. Additionally, she has the courage of her convictions and sticks to her guns. Burke has created characters we can believe in, characters we want to meet again and again.

Alafair Burke graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Reed College, then Stanford Law School. After five years as a deputy district attorney in Portland, Oregon, she began writing, drawing on her experiences prosecuting crime. Thankfully, she has continued to write brilliant fiction after her move to New York. She also writes articles for law journals, articles which "gather dust in the library" according to her web site.