Sealed adoption records not withstanding, Mal manages to locate Harriet’s son, Kevin Cunningham, a priest who is slowly drinking his way to death. Harriet no longer wants Mal’s services, which is propitious since the priest’s adoptive mother, Celia Cunningham wants him to investigate the suspicious deaths of several people who have been close to her son.

David J. Walker has done a very creditable job in this private investigator mystery. He has considerable descriptive talent both of place and character. The flavor of Chicago and its neighborhoods comes alive on the pages. From the more affluent sectors to areas where it is unsafe to park and leave your car if you expect it to be intact when you return, the variety of different lifestyles is presented.

A little light humor emerges in a description of courtroom. “The public sits in wooden pews like believers, shivering in July and sweating in February wondering why the majesty and power of the law can’t manage to get the temperature right." .

The characters are portrayed well enough that the reader gains some insight into their motivations and desires. The reader cannot help but empathize and sympathize with Mal as he struggles with the dilemmas in his life. He knows he should put forth more effort toward reconciling with his estranged wife, yet the pressures of his job, and, strangely, his shyness toward her prevent him from doing so.

The plot is reasonably fast-paced, with action scenes sufficiently prevalent to keep the reader who enjoys plot-driven mysteries happy. Victims show up with regularity, and the deaths that occur are not peaceful ones. However, the author mercifully restricts the descriptive passages of the more sadistically killed or wounded to generalities.

For the reader interested in matching wits with the hero, it is possible to spot the villain before the author reveals him, but the motivation behind the killings and mayhem are not presented until all is revealed in the end.

The author manages to slip in some interesting comments on the law profession and newspapers which I’m sure will not be happily received by lawyers or journalists. “It’s when [personal injury] lawyers speak as though justice for injured persons is the only thing that motivates them -- that’s when they shatter the credibility barrier.” And for the journalists, “Even when they [newspapers] do not purposely lie -- which is sadly so often the case -- they may yet deceive, by printing words and not thoughts.”

This book was originally published in 1995 and while the story is still current, the Chicago landscape has changed a bit. Those readers familiar with Chicago will notice that there is no longer a Nikko Hotel. It has been bought out by the Westin chain. Such is life in a big city.

--Andy Plonka