A Cold Case of Murder

Rating:
Summary: Meg is determined to solve Jessica's birth mother's murder
Review: Jean Marcy is in fact a mystery writing duo of Jean Hutchison and Marcy Jacobs. Long time partners, they reside just across the Mississippi river from St. Louis, where Marcy works at a shelter for battered women. Jean is a retired teacher.

Private Investigator Meg Darcy is hired by Diane Mann to find out who her daughter, Jessica's, mother is. Diane is married to a retired cop, who follows an all too familiar pattern of abuse. She wants to leave, but is afraid she'll lose custody of her beloved daughter. Meg quickly learns that a prominent family, Heitner, is now Doug Mann's employer. Could there be a connection? Meg starts digging into the past to discover that there was an unsolved murder around the time the Manns would have gained custody of Jessica. Booth Heitner was on the scene, but was he involved? No one wants to give out any information:

"Colleen had her own thought. 'How did Booth take Teresa's death?' Twyla snuffed out her cigarette with extra vigor. 'Can't tell you. He didn't show up for the funeral. I haven't seen him since. He just dropped off the radar screen.' She gave a wry smile. 'Sometimes I see his name in the papers.'"

The fourth in a series of Meg Darcy mysteries, A Cold Case of Murder presents the reader with delightfully developed characters caught in an interesting pulp situation. Meg Darcy and police detective Sarah Lindstrom have a romantic relationship that is heavy, but undeclared; Sarah is herself fighting off the homophobia of her police department; and crooked cops keep littering the landscape. Meg is determined to solve Jessica's birth mother's murder, even if she has to put life and limb on the line, which she repeatedly manages. Sara Lindstrom is still reeling from the death of her former partner; a tragedy for which she blames herself and her profession.

The team of Meg Darcy conjure up a denouement Nevada Barr and V.I. Warschawski would be proud of, making use of old tunnels which run under and around the old Heitner Brewery. A Cold Care of Murder is an excellent follow-up to the first three novels in the series. Great read!

Shelley Glodowski