Absence of Mercy
A Lightner and Law Mystery
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A string of grisly murders in Pre-Civil War New York propels an unlikely pair of detectives into a deadly tinderbox in S. M. Goodwin's debut novel, a sure hit for fans of Will Thomas and C. S. Harris.
Jasper Lightner is a decorated Crimean War hero and the most admired inspector in London's Metropolitan Police. Along with a chest full of medals, he's got a head injury that's left large chunks of his memory missing. But Jasper's biggest problem is his father, the Duke of Kersey, who, enraged by a series of front-page newspaper stories extolling Jasper's exploits, decides he's had enough of the embarrassment and uses his political connections to keep his son out of the headlines--and off the police force.
Jasper is sent packing to New York City on a year-long assignment to train detectives, and discovers a police department hovering on the brink of armed conflict. Assigned to investigate the murder of philanthropist and reformer Stephen Finch, Jasper joins forces with a man who might be even more of an outsider than he is: Hieronymus Law, a detective who had investigated two almost identical killings--and who is rumored to have taken money to help frame an innocent woman for murder.
Law is bent on restoring his good name. But can Jasper trust Hy enough to bring him into the investigation? As the city devolves into madness and law enforcement falls into the hands of dangerous gangs, this unlikely team has no choice but to work together to pursue an adversary more sinister than either has faced alone.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
London Det. Insp. Jasper Lightner, one of the heroes of Goodwin's promising debut and series launch, suffered a brain injury during the Crimean War that left memories of his life before fragmented. It's 1857, and Lightner's aristocratic father, who disapproves of his son's profession, gives him the option of either accepting a promotion that would remove Lightner from investigative work or traveling to New York City to help train officers in the city's new police force. Lightner leaps at the chance to work in New York, where policing is the subject of an intense political struggle, and he finds a whodunit: Alard Janssen, an advocate for scientific policing, was strangled before being stabbed. Janssen's killer removed a chunk of the victim's body, following a pattern in the murders of two other affluent men, whose cases were considered solved. Hieronymus Law, a disgraced police detective who was assigned to the previous murders, aids Lightner's probing. Goodwin does a fine job balancing plot and period detail, as well as exploring Lightner's cognitive challenges. Fans of gritty historicals will be eager for more.