Once In, Never Out

With absorbing exotic background and richly developed characters, Mahoney (Edge of the City), a former NYPD captain, delivers an unusual procedural that rises far above the genre norm. A word from the Cardinal of New York's Archdiocese turns a routine missing-persons case into an international manhunt that bounces from Manhattan to Belfast, Dublin and Reykjavik. When the mutilated body of a New York priest's missing sister, Meghan Maher, washes up near Reykjavik after a suspected IRA bomb kills a British official, NYPD detective Brian McKenna is handpicked by his old pal Commissioner Brunette to fly to Iceland and pursue the case. Adroit police work by Iceland's small force--mainly Thor Erikson, who's working only his fifth murder in 12 years--helps McKenna to I.D. the killer as fired New York bomb-squad cop Mike Mullen. The Brits know Mullen as Michael Mulrooney, formerly of the IRA (whose slogan is ""Once in, never out"") and linked to suspect Irish cabinet minister Timothy O'Bannion. In a neat conceit for those in the know, Mahoney has real-life murder expert Vernon Geberth profile Mullen. Erikson and McKenna's wives both suffer as Brunette and McKenna follow a body-strewn trail on the way to their confrontation with Mulrooney. This is a gripping police thriller distinguished by its insight, from various perspectives, into the troubles of Northern Ireland, by the flawless New York savvy and by its raw portrayals of bad cops. Author tour. (Feb.)