City
Of Saviors is the fourth book in the Detective
Elouise Norton Series by Rachel Howzell Hall and has the hoarder
problem as a key part of the case. As such there are graphic descriptions of
the house where a hoarder has died. If, like me, you quickly flip the channel
when the ad for a show on the topic comes on the television as it makes you
sick, this is a read that you may want to skip a few pages here or there. You
can do that and not lose the story. While you can skip the graphic and
frequently gross descriptions of the house in this one, you should be aware
that this is also the fourth book in a series that builds substantially on the
earlier books in the series and therefore should be read in order.
It
is September 1st as the novel begins and Detective Norton is back on
the job after the violent events at the conclusion of Trail of Echoes. She
hurts and has numerous issues going on, but is faking things fairly well so
those in charge have no actionable reason to put her back out on medical leave.
The heat is on in Los Angeles in a big way and the dead man in the house at
8711 Victoria is awaiting them in all his glory. She knows the scene is bad
when firefighters are being sick out in the trash strewn yard and her fellow
officers are standing outside as far away from the house as possible.
Eugene
Washington lived alone in the house and was found deceased by Bernice Parrish
who claims to be his girlfriend. Beyond the fact that she is far younger than
the deceased, the fact that EMTs found a gun near the body is a concern. While
the body is in slightly worse shape than the house so the detectives and others
can’t see signs of a gunshot, at least they got there before the cats that are
everywhere started working on him.
A
former Vietnam vet who just turned 73, Mr. Washington deserved far more than to
be living his last days this way. Detective Norton has nothing more than her
currently very shaky gut feeling that it is a murder, but that is enough for
her to treat the case as a murder case. A feeling that is reinforced by the
behavior of one Bernice Parrish as well as numerous others in the police
procedural, City Of Saviors: A Detective Elouise Norton Novel.
Very
graphic at times in terms of the hoarding problem, overall City Of Saviors is a good
read though a tough one in spots. Story arcs from the first book in the series have
made their way through the preceding ones and continue here. Those various situations
have a tendency to dominate the current case at times resulting in a book that
is not quite at the same enjoyment level of the proceeding book. Thrown in the
subject of hoarding and the very graphic living conditions and it would be a
mistake to read much of this book anywhere in proximity to food or meal
planning.
Good,
but not great, City Of Saviors: A Detective Elouise Norton Novel seems to tie
up various loose ends to a certain extent while also serving as springboard for
the next one. It will be interesting to see how author Rachel Howzell Hall will
solve the cliffhanger problem she left readers with here how she will send
Detective Norton forward.
The series,
in order, and my reviews:
Land of Shadows (November 8, 2018)
Skies of Ash (November 20,
2018)
Trail
of Echoes (January 10, 2019)
City
of Saviors (You are here and you look marvelous)
City
Of Saviors: A Detective Elouise Norton Novel
Rachel Howzell Hall
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
August 2017
ISBN# 978-0-7653-8119-4
Hardback (also available in paperback and digital formats)
302 Pages
$26.99
Material supplied
by the good folks of the Dallas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2019
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