cover image In the Guise of Mercy: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery

In the Guise of Mercy: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery

Wendy Hornsby, . . Perseverance, $14.95 (261pp) ISBN 978-1-56474-482-1

Last seen in A Hard Light (1997), documentary filmmaker Maggie MacGowen struggles to honor the final request of her late husband, LAPD Det. Mike Flint, to solve a particularly frustrating cold case, in Edgar-winner Hornsby's sixth Maggie MacGowen mystery. Jesús Ramón, a young gang member who was one of Mike's informants, disappeared after leaving Mike's car in 1999. Despite Mike's best efforts, he was never able to determine what happened to Jesús. Inheriting Mike's personal files and using Mike's many friends as well as her own resources, Maggie treats this cold case as one of her own investigative reports. Though Mike's former colleagues appear eager to help, they also warn her to “watch six” (watch her back). Hornsby handles the diversity of cultures—gangs, barrios, homeless, cops, filmmaking—adeptly as Maggie's probing stirs up a toxic residue of unsolved killings that again proves fatal. It's good to see Maggie back in action. (Sept.)