Land of Careful Shadows

This timely and engrossing series opener from Chazin (Fireplay) introduces Jimmy Vega, a Latino homicide detective who was raised by a single mother in Lake Holly, N.Y. The body of an unidentified Hispanic woman, her limbs bound with rope, has washed up on a local lake shore. Nearby the police find a handbag containing a photo of the victim with a baby girl, as well as a handwritten note that reads: “Go back to your country. You don’t belong here.” Lake Holly has always prided itself on its peaceful race relations, but has suffered a plague of hate crimes following the murder of a mother and her four-year-old daughter by an undocumented worker. Is the Hispanic woman simply another hate-crime victim? And what happened to the baby girl in the photograph? The engaging, psychologically complex Vega must confront unwelcome aspects of his past as his investigation builds to a shocking conclusion. Agent: Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management. (Dec.)