Detective
Elouise Norton has been filled with guilt and grief over what happened to her
sister 25 years ago. That tragedy is the core of her being and powers her work
as a detective for the LAPD in Land Of Shadows by Rachel Howzell
Hall.
It is a
Wednesday night in June when LAPD Detective Elouise “Lou” Norton of the Southwest
Division is called away from her Krav Maga class. A class that might help save
her life one day is interrupted about a possible suicide discovered in some
newly constructed condos. The old neighborhood is changing and gentrifying with
new money flowing in sweeping out what was there. New condos are being built
near where Detective Norton grew up as a kid. In a somewhat strange coincidence
the condo property under development is owned by one Napoleon Crase. The same
Napoleon Crase who, as owner of the local convenience store, was one of the
last people to see her sister alive all those years ago.
The same Napoleon
Crase who Detective Norton has believed all these years was responsible for her
sister’s disappearance. As time permitted she has investigated him since
joining the LAPD and she remains unable to prove his involvement or bring her
sister home as she promised her mom long ago.
As she
investigates she slowly realizes that there are links between what probably
happened to her sister and the clear and obvious murder of today. The
unidentified victim initially reported as a “Jane Doe” suicide was clearly not
a suicide. The person or persons who staged the scene intended to mislead
investigators, but Detective Norton is sure it was a murder. Norton firmly
believes that back in the day of the mid-eighties nobody in the LAPD cared if an
African-American girl vanished or was murdered. In the here and now of twenty-five
years later, Norton does and intends to solve the current case as well as the
someday bring her sister home.
While Land
of Shadows hits the classic-- loved one vanishes and surviving family
member becomes a cop to find justice -- trope as well as couple of other ones, author
Rachel Howzell Hall puts a fresh spin on them and creates an intense and
compelling read. A touch of sarcasm, often bitter, fuels the Norton character
with the result of the occasional sarcastic comment that often made this reader
snicker out loud. The mysteries at work in the book-- past and present-- are
complex and multilayered as are all the characters themselves. The protagonist
as well as minor and major characters are multilayered and nuanced and every
single one of them has stories to tell.
Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell
Hall is a very good read and one that is well worth your time. I was totally
unaware of this book or the series until I recently read reviews by Jim Thomson
and David
Nemeth over on the Unlawful Acts website. All too often, we hear some folks
claiming reviews don’t matter. Reviews of depth and meaning do matter and serve
to help us all find books that appeal. Because of those reviews, I have a new
series to work my way through and very much look forward to doing so book by
book.
Land Of Shadows
Rachel Howzell Hall
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
June 2014
ISBN# 978-0-7653-3635-4
Hardback (also available in paperback and digital formats)
322 Pages
$24.99
Material supplied
by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2018
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2 comments:
Ooh, another one for the TBR list---great review ;-)
Thank you....and thank you for reading my effort.
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