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A review by tracey_stewart
Crime School by Carol O'Connell
4.0
4.5 stars
So far, this is my favorite among the Mallory novels. More gaps in Mallory's past are filled in – while still leaving mysteries – and more light is shone into the dark inner recesses of her strange mind. It is discovered in Crime School that, in a way, the narrator of these books is somewhat unreliable, because the story the reader has been told several times of Kathy's coming into the custody of Louis Markowitz … isn't quite true.
A hooker is found dead – hanged, her hair cut off and stuffed in her mouth, a fire started, candles lit, the scene covered with dead and dying flies. It's a bizarre scene, and Mallory insists that it wasn't suicide. So, in fact, does her partner Riker, and the assertion isn't just because both of them knew the woman, Sparrow; both are reminded of a case from fifteen or twenty years ago that always bothered Markowitz. As happens so often, Mallory bucks authority and crosses every kind of line to dig into that old murder and this new one, being saddled in the process with an old retired cop who worked the cold case and a shiny new rookie whose hair is inexplicably dyed the brilliant yellow of a baby duck. Don't get attached. (Which is more a series spoiler than a book spoiler.)
In other books, Mallory's stance that she is right despite whatever the evidence says to her superiors has annoyed me. The captain is ready to move forward with a logical suspect, or to dismiss a death as accidental. Mallory says that isn't right, doesn't bother to offer compelling evidence, and steadfastly ignores direct orders to pursue her own line of investigation, even if that line crosses into illegal methods.
It's such a great, unique series. I need to revisit it.
So far, this is my favorite among the Mallory novels. More gaps in Mallory's past are filled in – while still leaving mysteries – and more light is shone into the dark inner recesses of her strange mind. It is discovered in Crime School that, in a way, the narrator of these books is somewhat unreliable, because the story the reader has been told several times of Kathy's coming into the custody of Louis Markowitz … isn't quite true.
A hooker is found dead – hanged, her hair cut off and stuffed in her mouth, a fire started, candles lit, the scene covered with dead and dying flies. It's a bizarre scene, and Mallory insists that it wasn't suicide. So, in fact, does her partner Riker, and the assertion isn't just because both of them knew the woman, Sparrow; both are reminded of a case from fifteen or twenty years ago that always bothered Markowitz. As happens so often, Mallory bucks authority and crosses every kind of line to dig into that old murder and this new one, being saddled in the process with an old retired cop who worked the cold case and a shiny new rookie whose hair is inexplicably dyed the brilliant yellow of a baby duck. Don't get attached. (Which is more a series spoiler than a book spoiler.)
In other books, Mallory's stance that she is right despite whatever the evidence says to her superiors has annoyed me. The captain is ready to move forward with a logical suspect, or to dismiss a death as accidental. Mallory says that isn't right, doesn't bother to offer compelling evidence, and steadfastly ignores direct orders to pursue her own line of investigation, even if that line crosses into illegal methods.
It's such a great, unique series. I need to revisit it.