2021-10-25
In Weber’s mystery novel, a Midwestern detective suspects that a series of apparently unrelated crimes are connected.
Jon Frederick is an investigator for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in Minnesota who has a reputation for being as insightful as he is obsessive. He closes the case of Todd Hartford, who seems to have been the victim of a hunting accident in the woods. But he still harbors doubts about the circumstances of the man’s death, and he increasingly feels that his own final determination was “questionable.” Meanwhile, a terrifying home invasion occurs nearby, in which fugitive Kaiko Kane attempts to rape a woman named Brenna Ross in front of her husband and child. Later, Frederick learns that teenage sex worker Raven Lee has gone missing, and her disappearance may have a connection to Kane. Frederick frets that local deputy Del Walker is obstructing the investigation into Todd’s death and even leaking confidential information—and he may also be involved with Hartford’s widow, Leda. The author powerfully conjures a dark atmosphere of dread that’s made all the more affecting by the fact that the story takes place in the seemingly sleepy environs of rural Minnesota. At one point, Mia Strock, an intern working for Frederick, witnesses the gory remains of a suicide, and Weber deftly portrays her horror: “The shower of blood and brain matter, combined with a gut-wrenching, rotten smell, was overwhelming. Everything smelled like copper; I felt like I was gagging on pennies. A lifeless body, sans a chunk of his head, was slouched in a black leather recliner, milky eyes pointed in my direction."Overall, this is a well-crafted murder mystery that often hums with suspense. As the story goes on, Weber discloses just enough information to keep the reader engaged but never so much that the outcome becomes predictable. Frederick proves to be a memorable protagonist; he’s uncommonly talented, maniacally devoted to his job, and morally shaped by his own troubled childhood. That said, the author’s prose can be a touch heavy-handed at times; during a group therapy session, for example, a doctor asks Kane, “For God’s sake, what did your mom do to you to create such a damaged young man?” Also, there are far too many secondary plotlines, which results in needless distraction from the principal narrative and excessive convolution. For instance, one subplot follows the relationship between Clay Roberts, a Christian man, and Hani Egal, a Muslim woman. This is the closest the author flirts with didactic moral commentary, as it often seems that the point of the illicit relationship is to condescendingly edify the reader. When Weber weaves this plotline into the larger crime drama, it ultimately weakens the plausibility of the story as a whole. Along the way, however, he also paints a compellingly bleak picture of Minnesota as riven by conflict between White bigots and Somali immigrants. And despite its flaws, this remains a riveting murder mystery by a skillful author.
An often thrilling and morbidly captivating crime drama.
