Rating: 
Summary: (4+) An Excellent Police Procedural By A Former Lawman
Review: This could have been subtitled MURDER CLOSE UP AND PERSONAL. It is the first novel that I have read by Michael McGarrity, and is a tense and succinct story in the police procedural genre whose realism stems from the fact that it is written by a former sheriff who has been there and done that. The detailed descriptions and insightful observations throughout the book clearly ring true because of the author's background and training. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the story occurs within a very compressed time period, both the level of detail and complications introduced by the subplots made it seem to progress in an orderly fashion rather than the nonstop pace of much of contemporary crime oriented fiction. This and the New Mexico locale clearly are partially responsible for the similarities to Tony Hillerman's books upon which others have commented.The basic storyline is simplicity itself. A well known local attorney (and friend of Police Chief Kevin Kerney) is gunned down outside his Santa Fe office. There are no witnesses and relatively little evidence, so in the search for a motive the police begin an investigation into both his professional cases and his personal life (he was gay). The investigation turns disastrous when two innocent people die, perhaps as the result of the overzealous pursuit of an apparent suspect who is totally innocent of any involvement in the crime. Then Kerney's horse is viciously destroyed, his pregnant wife threatened, and the discovery of another victim is accompanied by a note that the end result will be that EVERYONE DIES. This a story in which the tension builds as the book proceeds, both for Kerney and his wife Sara and for the reader. It is like you are watching someone assemble the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but where you know what the picture looks like and he doesn't. This is because the story is written from multiple perspectives, sometimes in the third person but also from the viewpoint of several of the participants including that of the murderer. Thus, the reader gradually understands the motivations behind the acts of violence and eventually learns the identity of the killer, but in a way that heightens the tension. (Remember. this is not a detective story, the mystery for the reader is what will happen, not who did it.) The book provides an interesting profile of a genuine psychopath and the cleverness involved in his acts. And there are some wonderful philosophical insights as well, my favorite probably was how the investigation led Cruz Tofoya to observe how the ripple effect of murder always seemed to destroy so many lives beyond that of the victims. While I really enjoyed the book, there are a few reasons why it did not rise to the level of a five star rating. First, the violence was quite graphic in spots, especially with regard to the animals involved. (Although arguably essential to the story, it is not to my taste.) Second, the ending was quite abrupt and one of a few instances near that conclusion that seemed somewhat unrealistic. While, I can't discuss them without revealing more of the plot than what is on the book jacket, it seemed at times the author chose to reach his desired results by having some of the individuals act somewhat out of character. Third, the book would have been improved considerably for me by the simple expedient of including a map of the area. I was reading most of it where a map was not readily available; I am not familiar with New Mexico and while such geographic knowledge was not essential there are numerous references to the various locales and I would have really enjoyed referring to a map on the front overleaf. One final suggestion is that if you are not familiar with Kevin Kerney, the recurring protagonist of McGarrity's books, you might want to read the previous volume before this book. I wish that I had. In THE BIG GAMBLE, Kerney investigates a case with another lawman, Clayton Istee, a son whose existence his Indian mother had kept secret from Kerney. Since Istee plays a pivotal role in this story (both in terms of the investigation and emotionally for Kerney), the background of that book would have been helpful. Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure, I was furnished a review copy of this book by the publisher based my interest in this genre as evidenced by my previous reviews of similar books. I have no relationship and have never met either the author or anyone employed by the publisher, and furnished no guarantee that I would even submit a review. If anything, in order to prove my objectivity I perhaps presented my criticisms in more detail than they deserve. Nevertheless, people in my business have belatedly learned too much disclosure is preferable to not enough, so this addendum is offered in that spirit. Tucker Andersen
Rating: 
Summary: More down time
Review: This excellent series continues with a procedural that needs more of Kerney, and a little less of the spare step by step police investigation.
Rating:
Summary: GIVE IT 3 1/2 STARS
Review: This is the first book I have read by this author and I was not impressed by his style of writing. With the first murder on page one to the last one in the next to lastchapter, there was not a lot ofsuspense. I could put the book down and pick it up 2 days later to read a couple more chapters.The most exciting part was when the baby was going to be born, if indeed the expectant mother was not killed first.The most touching pary was the sheriff meeting his first born son by an Indian woman. Finding this older son who was in law enforcement too, and establishinga new family seemed to outshine the murder victims left over the country side with a sign Everyone Dies or Youu Are Next on the body or near it.If you are looking forward to exciting descriptions of New Mexico's beautiful colors. look else where.There are other authors of this genre that provide far more exciting adventures.
Rating:
Summary: unrelenting
Review: This is the first Michael McGarrity book I've read but by the time I finished it, I was out looking for more. Kevin Kerney (the Santa Fe Police Chief) reminded me somewhat of Peter Decker from the Faye Kellerman series. He's devoted to his wife Sara and looking forward to the birth of their little boy. When an attorney is murdered and Kevin's horse is destroyed, its only the start of a killing spree which he realizes will end with his family being the final victims. It's a battle of wits with someone who leaves no clues and a motive is hard to find. The book is violent in its murders but the suspense keeps you turning the pages to find the answers. Now on to the other 6 in this engrossing series.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story and good continuation of back story in the series
Review: With a book that's part of a series, there's always the question of whether the book makes any sense at all if you haven't been following the series all along. The "Kevin Kerney" series has a back-story (the background contains evolving information about the lives of the characters which has nothing to do with the plot) but each book is also quite readable on its own. The mystery plot is good enough to carry even the new reader along. Nonetheless, I'd certainly recommend that you read the whole series- they are all interesting. _Serpent Gate_ and _Under the Color of Law_ are especially good, in my opinion. Worth your while to read them. In _Everyone Dies_, we have a continuation of the backstory of Kevin's son, whom he only recently discovered existed. Kevin gets to know his son better - and to work with him, on this case. The plot: a gay lawyer gets murdered, right in front of his office. One of the questions: is it because he's gay, or because he's a lawyer, or some other reason the police have no idea of? One small bit of stereotyping I could have lived without: the lawyer's life partner owns an antiques shop. Personally, I would like to see authors stop casting gay characters in antiques and interior decorating. That's a small quibble, however- it doesn't spoil the book. Besides the gay community in Santa Fe, we also get to deal with the mentally ill community - always a challenge for the police. We have social workers who are sure that their clients are ALWAYS wronged innocents; questions about how well the laws about screening gun purchasers work; and whether police get enough training in how to approach the mentally ill. Where I live, Austin, we've had a couple of incidents in the past couple of years, of a police officer shooting a mentally ill person who turned out to be unarmed. These incidents are still "under review" and nothing much has changed. However, when this happens in the book, Kerney is quickly on the ball about changing his force's policy and vowing to improve training. (Makes one wish reality would learn a few lessons from fiction, sigh.) The next character murdered seems to have no connection whatsoever with the first murder. More murders follow, and some are accompanied by personal notes to Kerney. Eventually, Kerney and his staff figure out the connection - and then the race is to catch the killer before the trend continues. All of this is made more frantic by the fact that Kerney's wife Sara is extremely pregnant. In the course of trying to stop this killer, Kerney discovers evidence of another set of murders by a serial killer. There's an interesting twist here - I won't give it away. This series is slightly different from others set in the Southwest, in that our hero is not a Native American; fans of Tony Hillerman who like those kinds of series specifically because the characters are Native Americans might have been disappointed when they first read one book in this series. However, this book should bring those readers back into the fold, as Kevin's half-Indian son, who is also in law enforcement, becomes one of the more important characters. A good book in a good series, one I intend to keep reading the moment any new book comes out!
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