Somewhere between the seedy streets of George P. Pelecanos and the upscale enclaves of such Old Guard novelists as Ward Just lies the Washington, D.C., patrolled by Frank Kearney and José Phelps, the veteran homicide detectives introduced in Andrews's memorable A Murder of Honor
(2001) and now brought back for a second, equally excellent outing. As before, it's Kearney—the erudite son of a judge and a Vietnam vet whose nights are still occasionally haunted by visions of that war—who gets the most ink, while his heftier African-American partner seems defined more by his physical attributes and more amusing habits. When Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post
reporter Mary Keegan is found hacked to death in a Georgetown park, the last thing their supremely political homicide commander wants to hear is that it might be the work of a serial killer. So Kearney and Phelps dig into the subjects of a book about fathers and sons that Keegan was working on: a legendary Kennedy-era diplomat and his less flashy bureaucratic offspring; and a smooth, supposedly retired black drug lord and his straight-arrow son. Keegan's brother, an Irishman with a political agenda, also bears some looking into, as well as a sharply sketched Internet entrepreneur whose signature online game might provide a clue. The author of four thrillers (Last Spy Out, etc.) before he turned to police procedurals, Andrews has drawn once again on his insider's knowledge of Washington to produce a first-rate entertainment. Agent, Robin Rue.(Mar. 4)
Forecast:With blurbs from Robert B. Parker and George Pelecanos, as well as his Washington connections (he was once a national security advisor to a senior U.S. senator), Andrews is well positioned to build this series into a winner.
