Harriet Klausner's Review Archive
The shooting that killed Deputy Sheriff Rosalyn Fitzgerald and left Sheriff Ethan McKenna fighting for his life stunned the residents of Bickle County, West Virginia. Rumors spread by the outside media covering the case claim that the two law enforcement officials were having an affair under the nose of her spouse Kirk. Ethan's cousin private investigator Zoe Kergulin would have had a good laugh over the affair angle if the crimes were not so serious because Zoe knows her cousin is gay.
Zoe begins her own investigation to not only save Ethan's reputation for clean living and running a clean department, but to also bring a cold blooded killer to justice. The state police believe Kirk committed the shooting in a rage of passion for his wife cuckolding him with the sheriff. As she digs deeper, Zoe soon realizes that a very disturbed teenage girl has many of the answers to the tragedy. All Zoe needs to do is to persuade Ren to tell what she saw, but the girl is afraid that no one will believe her and the culprit will come after her next.
The second Kergulin West Virginia mystery is an exciting who-done-it that brings the Mountaineer State alive. The mystery is intriguing and as in her first appearance (see ORDINARY JUSTICE), Zoe remains a fresh character. The support cast, especially the interaction between the outsiders and the locals, augments the mistrust and innuendoes that grow on each page. Although more information on the victims' would have added an empathic element that the plot lacks, Trudy Labovitz writes an engaging tale.