Cat Austen is the young widow of a New Jersey state cop and the only sister of six older brothers, five of whom are also cops. Cat lives in a house in South Jersey left her by her aunt, with her two young children and close friend Ellice. Protected first by her brothers, then by her husband, Cat is getting her first taste of independence these days by freelancing for South Jersey magazine.

Her editor puts her in as a substitute interviewer for a half-completed article on the local radio shock jock, Jerry Dudek. Jerry is half of the morning team of “The Six AM Circus,” a fast-rising morning talk show, and is the sort of person people love to hate. As repulsive as she finds Jerry, Cat agrees to meet him and his partner at an Atlantic City nightclub promo in order to finish her article and see him “in action.” During a skirmish at the nightclub, Cat tries to slip away, witnesses Jerry’s murder outside the club and winds up in the hospital herself.

Her overly protective brothers tag-team to try to keep her out of the case, as does the Major Crimes detective, Victor Cardenas, but Cat has her own agenda. Somber and serious Victor is attracted to Cat and finally gets her to go out with him by cutting her in on the office bet that she would turn him down. Their evening has a surprise ending when someone puts a bullet through the window. Determined not to rely on anyone ever again, Cat pursues the slim leads she has to Jerry Dudek’s past and finds a mixture of truth and fiction that someone desperately wants to keep buried.

Cat (wait until you find out how she got her name!) makes an engaging lead character, both vulnerable and tough at once, and the family characters and dialog ring true, especially the author’s ear for “New Joisey-ese.” The Sunday family dinners are so well described you can practically hear the clinking of silverware and the murmur of conversation.

Try Death of a DJ and soon you’ll be scouring the bookstores for another Cat Austen fix!

--K. W. Becker