Blue Like Me

In Clark’s page-turning sequel to 2021’s Under Color of Law, Trevor “Finn” Finnegan, a Black police officer who was wrongfully terminated from the LAPD, but received a generous settlement as compensation, is now a PI paid by a law firm to take pictures of dirty cops engaged in illegal activities. In that capacity, the gumshoe becomes an eyewitness to murder after his boss, a lawyer at the firm, directs him to observe two police officers, Sally Munoz, Finn’s former partner, and her current one, Martin Riley. While Munoz and Riley are stopped at a hot dog stand, someone shoots them, killing Riley and wounding Munoz, whom Finn once considered as close to him as a sister. Finn learns that the pair had been trying to nail socialite Cassandra Boyle, a former head of an escort service, who was using her legal marijuana dispensaries to sell heroin and cocaine. Finn’s search for the motive for the hit coincides with his shocking discovery that he has a year-old daughter. Clark balances the personal and the professional challenges adroitly as he further develops his lead. S.A. Cosby fans will hope for a long series run. Agent: Gina Panettieri, Talcott Notch Literary. (Nov.)