Saturday, April 11, 2009

Shadows Still Remain-Peter de Jonge

Shadows Still Remain
Peter de Jonge
Harper, Apr 21 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9780061373541

Thirty-four years old NYPD Detective Darlene O'Hara leads the search for missing NYU student Francesca Pena. However, the day after the Thanksgiving weekend, the hunt ends when the teen’s battered body is found in East River Park.

The police led by veteran Detective Cooney hone in on Pena’s former boyfriend David McLain as the violence implies a crime of passion. O’Hara differs as something is not quite right. She focuses on Pena’s life especially after she came to NYU on a full scholarship. O’Hara soon finds evidence that the perfect student worked at an escort service and strip club. Following up on a tattoo the killer carved on the victim, O’Hara finds another student with the same telltale mark.

Although not unique as the premise of the story line has been used a lot in mysteries, fans will enjoy SHADOWS STILL REMAIN, an entertaining New York City police procedural. O’Hara is an intriguing lead character as she defies her more experienced peers seeking a solution elsewhere even though none at first surface; that is until she begins to uncover the truth behind the façade of the perfect student. Fans will enjoy her investigation even if we know early one what to expect.

Harriet Klausner

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