Angel of Death

Anti-Semitism on the streets of L.A. draws homicide detective Jessica Drake, seen last in Fair Game, into disturbing investigations of both hate crimes and her own history. Attorney Barry Lewis, the son of Holocaust survivors, is fighting for White Alliance's right to march on Hitler's birthday, and he is paying the price-he and his wife are ostracized, he receives hate mail and calls and finds a blood-red Star of David and a death threat on his front door. Jessica grumbles about this corpseless case but, having Jewish relatives she has never met, becomes intrigued by what she learns about the Jewish community as she probes its members, including gentle Ezra Nathanson, his radical brother Joel Ben-Natan, and Barry's wife and parents-all of whom seem to have something to hide. After the parade, Barry tackles an even more controversial assignment and Jessica's work intensifies: the case finally gets its corpse. By subordinating mystery to message, Krich sacrifices the suspense that drove her earlier works, including Where's Mommy Now, but she offers her message in a creative way, and Jessica, other than taking a brainless risk to set up the finale, makes an engaging companion. Author tour. (Oct.)