Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The White Crow by Michael Robotham

  

The White Crow by Michael Robotham (Scribner, July 2025) is the second Constable Philomena McCarthy book. Like Clayton Burroughs in the Bull Mountain series by Brian Panowich, Phil is the daughter of a long-established gangster, only she’s in London and Clayton is in Georgia. They have both chosen to step outside their family’s deeply entrenched criminal organizations to join law enforcement, a decision that both bewilders and infuriates their fathers. Phil uneasily balances her love for her family with her deep investment in her job and so far she’s been successful.

Phil, patrolling the streets with her night shift partner, sees a child in blood-stained pajamas on a sidewalk. Phil takes her home and finds Daisy’s mother bound and dead on the kitchen floor. The family has been the target of a home invasion and the father, owner of a high-end jewelry store, has been driven to the store to allow the attackers to clean the place out.

In the meantime, someone is systematically sabotaging the McCarthy construction site where the latest and most ambitious building complex is taking shape. The saboteurs have been so determined that the work is months behind and the McCarthy capital operating budget has evaporated under the heavy costs of replacing damaged equipment. The banks are mumbling about foreclosure, the insurance companies are backing out, and the McCarthys are scrambling for a fix while searching for the culprit.

Robotham skillfully juggles dual plot lines and multiple POVs. The child outside at night is a good device to attract police to a crime scene. Brian McGilloway used it effectively in Little Girl Lost (Pan Macmillan, 2011). The underlying theme of motherhood and family is thoughtful and perceptive. Phil’s husband wants to start a family now, Phil wants to wait. Stepping in for Daisy’s absent parents gives Phil something to think about, as does watching Daisy’s godmother who is given temporary custody. The question of what actually makes a mother a mother is a good one: does a woman have to give birth to be a mother? And, can you love someone, even a close relative, when you heartily disagree with their life choices?

Dramatic and violent action with far-reaching implications for Phil and her father wrap up the plot. I am looking forward to seeing how they play out in the next book, which hopefully we will see soon.

Starred reviews from Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly for this fine story.

 

• Publisher: ‎Scribner
• Publication date: ‎July 1, 2025
• Language: ‎English
• Print length: ‎368 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎1668031027
• ISBN-13: ‎978-1668031025

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4rumaLx

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026

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