Sweet After Death

Giambanco’s superb fourth police procedural featuring Seattle homicide detective Alice Madison (after 2017’s Blood and Bone) takes Madison and her team—Det. Sgt. Kevin Brown and crime scene investigator Amy Sorenson—to Ludlow, Wash., where Dr. Robert Dennen was found burned to death in his car. Ludlow’s tiny police force isn’t equipped to handle the town’s first ever homicide, and the Seattle PD detectives must deal with makeshift crime facilities, treacherous weather, and the residents’ daunting, long-established “fabric of relationships.” Key to solving Dennen’s murder is 15-year-old Samuel Tanner, who lives with his many siblings on an isolated farm that’s more of a compound and controlled by his abusive father. Sorenson’s smart use of forensics enhances Madison and Brown’s intuitive partnership. Giambanco seamlessly melds a solid look at police work with an intriguing glimpse at small-town life and the secrets that motivate people. [em]Agent: Teresa Chris, Teresa Chris Literary Agency (U.K.). (Aug.) [/em]