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rosseroo's review
4.0
Originally published in 2001, this fourth entry in a New York-set series features Filomnena Buscarsela finds the ex-cop working as an entry-level investigator for a private investigation firm, clocking in the hours so she can eventually get her own PI's license. The book is a bit chaotic, as she bounces around between four main storylines -- all of which generally involve immigrants or other marginalized people.
There's an elderly woman seeking her missing adult son, there's a wife whose hard-working husband is accused of pulling a gun on police officers, there's a Russian factory owner who suspects his employees of bootlegging the product, and there's a community activist who is killed by unknown assailants in the street. And if that's not enough, she's also in a constant battle to prove her worth to her boss, her coworkers, and various cops -- not to mention fending off unwanted harassment and juggling her own romantic impulses.
Oh yeah, there's also a plotline around a developer trying to move squatters out of an apartment building and an entire thread around mercury poisoning... There's just a lot crammed in here, and somewhat surprisingly, it mostly works. She's a little too hard-boiled as a character, but that makes for some good banter and one-liners along the way. Definitely a different take on the detective story and definitely worth checking out if you like your New York fiction to take place in boroughs other than Manhattan.
There's an elderly woman seeking her missing adult son, there's a wife whose hard-working husband is accused of pulling a gun on police officers, there's a Russian factory owner who suspects his employees of bootlegging the product, and there's a community activist who is killed by unknown assailants in the street. And if that's not enough, she's also in a constant battle to prove her worth to her boss, her coworkers, and various cops -- not to mention fending off unwanted harassment and juggling her own romantic impulses.
Oh yeah, there's also a plotline around a developer trying to move squatters out of an apartment building and an entire thread around mercury poisoning... There's just a lot crammed in here, and somewhat surprisingly, it mostly works. She's a little too hard-boiled as a character, but that makes for some good banter and one-liners along the way. Definitely a different take on the detective story and definitely worth checking out if you like your New York fiction to take place in boroughs other than Manhattan.
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