Mallory Russo was on the fast track for lead detective, when her partner made an ill-advised high speed chase with his infant son in the back seat.  Mallory refused to lie to cover his actions, causing the entire department to turn against her. It became apparent to her and to her chief, that without support she would be unable to function effectively so she left the department to write true crime books.

Mallory’s replacement, new hire Charlie Wanamaker, is coming from a large city department because of his need to return to his home town to care for his alcoholic mother and autistic adult sister.

The department is in turmoil searching for a sniper who continues to make random strikes throughout the town. Adding to this is the killing of two teens in the park one night; the search has focused on Ryan Corcoran and Courtney Bauer who had been with them and had subsequently disappeared. These four were close friends, seniors and college bound.

The missing boy’s grandmother brings Father Kevin Burch into the picture. And Father Kevin convinces his cousin, the self-made mega rich Robert Magellan, to hire Mallory to find Ryan. Robert agrees to fund the process, caring little about anything but his missing wife and son, who had mysteriously disappeared over a year earlier on a road trip home. Robert's secretary Susanna is hopelessly in love with him.

Charlie is assigned this case while the rest of the department searches for the sniper. The police chief is a father like figure to Mallory and when he hears Mallory has been retained by Robert to find the missing teens, he urges Charlie to collaborate with her.

The cast is in place and the story leisurely proceeds as the author utilizes the story plot to develop this cast of characters. Lightly touching on each character’s respective angst, she is clearly using the framework of this novel to build a strong base for novels to follow.

Mallory is endowed with a rare intuitiveness and provides the lead in the search, and although the pacing is slow, the story evolves in a realistic and logical fashion. Charlie provides a humanistic counterpoint for her, and the beginning of a romance between them emerges.

Part of the story twists to an unusual and unexpected end that is somewhat contrived, but the big picture demonstrates how each of the lives explored in Mercy Street begins life altering changes.

-- Thea Davis