Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The Dime by Kathleen Kent

Kathleen Kent wrote three acclaimed historical novels before turning to crime fiction. After she was asked to contribute a story to Dallas Noir, she liked the main character of the short story enough to write a full-length book about her. Betty Rhyzyk is a lesbian police detective from a Polish family of New York cops who transferred to Dallas, Texas. The book received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and from Kirkus. It was a finalist for the 2018 Edgar Award for Best Mystery and for the 2018 Nero Award. The third book about Rhyzyk is scheduled for release on 16 November 2021 and has received a starred review from Kirkus.

In Rhyzyk’s debut, she is leading a team from Dallas Narcotics in pursuit of a Mexican drug lord, who visits one of his lieutenants in Texas occasionally. The surveillance has been carefully orchestrated and is set to bear fruit when at the last minute a civilian steps in and sets off a hail of gunfire that leaves four people dead, including the civilian and a cop, and another cop wounded. The ensuing investigation reveals a complex home-grown meth production and sales ring competing with the drug trade from south of the border, making no one – cops, Mexican drug runners, or local meth producers – happy.

This book is as much a thriller as it is a police procedural and the best parts of both. Betty Rhyzyk is a wonderfully kickass character. Her struggles with the slowly vanishing but deeply entrenched misogynism within law enforcement are realistic, down to the colleagues who accept her for who she is but can’t resist yanking her chain occasionally just to watch her react. Her commentary about life in the South from the perspective of a native New Yorker is hilarious. She is worth the investment of time to read the book all by herself. But the story line is well thought out with several thoroughly choreographed, quite bloody action scenes. Her relationships with her coworkers are neatly portrayed and balanced against Rhyzyk’s home life with her partner, a pediatric radiologist. The segment with the Civil War re-enactors is absolutely priceless. Fast moving, propulsive read. Highly recommended.

 

·         Publisher: ‎ Mulholland Books; First Edition/First Printing (February 14, 2017)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Hardcover: ‎ 352 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 0316311030

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0316311038

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2021

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.