Publication Day Review: EDGE: A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller

 

EDGE: A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller is the latest read in an excellent police procedural series that began in January 2023 with HIDE. This series by Tracy Clark is one that builds off of the previous books as characters evolve over time. This is not a static series as characters are affected by cases as well as personal life events. As a result, it is strongly recommended to have read the previous books in order before embarking on this complex and very enjoyable read.

 

 

It is spring in Chicago and the season of renewal and yet the rain and the cold make it clear otherwise for Detective Harriet Foster.  Known to all as “Harri, she is on a path at the lakefront thinking about the past, her dead, and scores that have not been settled. The justice she has sought these many months over past events has not happened nor has her ability to deal with those traumas really improved. Her mind is full of turmoil as she walks, putting one foot forward, as she does every day at work, the best she can.  

 

That is until she sees the prone figures in some sort of concrete bowl in the local skate park. The weather has been horrible so partying is not happening. They aren’t moving either and don’t seem to hear her or to be able to respond from where they are behind the locked chain link fence. A fence that somebody from the city should have unlocked hours earlier.

 

Detective Harriet Foster has no choice. She has to get over the fence and check on the people lying motionless. It takes some time to get over that fence and get to them. It is pretty clear that they had been drinking. It is also clear that they each took something and things went very bad. The young man is dead. The young woman snuggled against him is alive, barely, and Detective Foster summons help. She does everything she can to keep her amongst the living during an agonizing long wait for assistance.

 

The young woman who almost died from the drugs as well as hypothermia thanks to the rain, wind, and the cold, is Ella Louise Byrne. A sophomore at the University of Chicago, she also has a business card for Detective Matt Kelley. The same Detective Matt Kelley who is on her team.

 

The same Detective Matt Kelly who is engaged at what happened to his niece. He is willing to burn down his career and the city itself to find those responsible. That means it is up to Detective Harriet Foster and the rest of the team to not only find and arrest those responsible, but to make sure a good cop doesn’t go totally rogue and do something stupid that will ruin his career and maybe his life.

 

Seeking justice has long been a theme throughout this series. It is front and center here in EDGE: A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller by Tracy Clark. If you have not read these excellent police procedurals, you are really missing out.

Strongly recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/418cDyw

 

My reading copy from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, though NetGalley, months ago with no expectation of a positive review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025