She Treads Softly: City of Secrets

Saturday, August 17, 2024

City of Secrets

City of Secrets by P. J. Tracy
8/20/24; 304 pages
Minotaur Books
Detective Margaret Nolan #4

City of Secrets by P. J. Tracy is a highly recommended investigative mystery and the fourth book in the Detective Margaret (Maggie) Nolan series.

Los Angeles Police Detective Maggie Nolan and her partner Detective Al Crawford are called in to investigate a man found dead in his car in what appears to have been a car jacking. During the same time Bruce Messane, the co-founder of Peppy Pets, misses the meeting for the sale of his company for $100 million. Chief financial officer of Peppy Pets, Cynthia Jackson, tries to reach Messane to no avail. Then the dead man in the car is identified as Messane. Retired veterinarian Rome Bechtold, Messane’s former partner, has no current involvement with the company, but shortly after Messane's death Bechtold's wife, Nicole, is kidnapped. The complications multiply after this.

Clearly the case is much more convoluted and perplexing than just a murder case and Nolan has her work cut out for her. The enjoyment is found in trying to put together the pieces of the intricate investigative puzzle as each new piece is uncovered. The tension remains high and readers will be engaged in the narrative throughout the novel. There include some twists and surprises along the way.

As the fourth book in a series character development is ongoing. I've read books three and four now and felt enough background is provided to enjoy the series, although the complexities of the investigation rather than the personal situations are more my focus when reading procedurals. The members of the team work do well together. I think readers who are interested in complex investigation, especially with a strong female lead, can enjoy this as a standalone novel.

City of Secrets is a great choice for those who enjoy complicated investigative mysteries and procedurals. Thanks to Minotaur Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.