A few days later the corpse of another woman is found at the old St. Patrick's Cathedral in Little Italy with her throat cut and her tongue removed. The manner of both women's deaths suggests hate crime against women, but Alex is on the fence about a religious connection since the first victim was Jewish and the second Catholic.

The other certainty in Alex's mind is that the killer hasn't finished with his performance. There will be another death unless Alex and her friends Mike and Mercer can intercept the killer before the next death occurs. What makes the killer especially elusive is his apparent ability to fly or at least get from one place to another that no ordinary individual could manage.

As is true of all Linda Fairstein's novels, New York City plays as important a role as any of her human characters. In this book religious institutions come to the forefront. Many of the churches discussed in the book are not well known and have interesting histories. The religious affiliations of several of the structures have changed over time. A building at one time that was a synagogue became a Catholic church for instance.

It could be argued that there is too much nonessential information in this novel in that the church history is not really germane to the crimes that have taken place but as fans of Fairstein well know, trivia and the game show Jeopardy are an integral part of each novel. Most mystery buffs are interested in the details.

The plotting in the novel is exceptional. What appears to be impossible becomes imminently logical once all the related pieces of the puzzle are properly assembled. A few pieces of an unrelated puzzle that sneak into the mix add excitement.

Other bits of medical lore concerning leprosy add to the education of readers of Silent Mercy. Since the disease has been studied at length and its causes and control are well understood, the presence of the disease should not inspire the fear it once did; yet the old ways still prevail in certain circumstances.

Though there is considerable attention given to religious institutions and women's roles in various denominations is discussed at length, there is much to be gleaned from the pages of Silent Mercy beyond the expected good mystery yarn. A map of Manhattan with the key locations cited in the text clearly marked gives a physical picture as well as a mental one to those unfamiliar with the local geography.

Linda Fairstein has produced an informative mystery without much emphasis on forensics. Though it is always interesting to pick up tidbits of information about how the police do their jobs with the aid of technology unavailable to their predecessors, it is refreshing to read about a crime which is solved using other methods of investigation.

--Andy Plonka