Credible Threat: An Ali Reynolds Mystery

Is it possible to feel sympathy for a cold-blooded killer? Bestseller Jance pulls it off in her poignant 15th Ali Reynolds mystery (after 2019’s The A List). Rachel Higgins has been going through the motions in the years since her grown son, David, died of an overdose. But after she realizes that David was molested as a teen by his swimming coach, Father Needham, at St. Francis High in Phoenix, Rachel carefully plots her revenge. Since Needham died of AIDS in prison after being convicted of multiple counts of pedophilia, Rachel decides to kill Needham’s superior, Archbishop Francis Gillespie, for letting it happen. When the archbishop begins receiving anonymous threats, he asks High Noon Enterprises, a cybersecurity firm owned by Ali and her husband, B. Simpson, to investigate after the police dismiss the notes as not a credible threat. When B. has to go overseas, the case is left to Ali and her team of cyber experts. Depth of character compensates for some overwriting. Jance has rendered a masterly study of the effects of grief, rage, and the power of forgiveness. Agent: Alice Volpe, Northwest Literary. (June)