Under the Color of Law (Kevin Kerney Series #6)

by Michael McGarrity

Overview

“One of the most chilling and satisfying thrillers of the year.” —Los Angeles Times

Newly-installed Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney receives a deadly welcome when a U.S. ambassador’s ex-wife is brutally stabbed to death in her home. But before Kerney can begin to investigate, the FBI closes the case with trumped-up evidence. And the harder Kerney hunts for the truth, the more he knows that he may not survive the chase.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451410443
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/01/2002
Series:	Kevin Kerney Series , #6
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.74(w) x 4.08(h) x 1.06(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael McGarrity is author of the Anthony Award-nominated Tularosa, Mexican Hat, Serpent Gate, Hermit's Peak, The Judas Judge, Under the Color of Law, and The Big Gamble. A former deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County, he established the first Sex Crimes Unit. He has also served as an instructor at the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy and as an investigator for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"McGarrity gets better and better." —Tony Hillerman

"One of the most chilling and satisfying thrillers of the year." —Los Angeles Times

"In mixing thriller with mystery, McGarrity has struck gold." —Houston Chronicle

Editorial Reviews

"McGarrity gets better and better." —Tony Hillerman

"One of the most chilling and satisfying thrillers of the year." —Los Angeles Times

"In mixing thriller with mystery, McGarrity has struck gold." —Houston Chronicle

From the Publisher

When a U.S. ambassador's wife is found murdered in her palatial home, Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney makes the case his top priority. But before the investigation even gets off the ground, Kerney is railroaded by an FBI team acting under the cloak of national security. Now, as Kerney watches from the sidelines, the crime scene is sanitized, witnesses disappear, and the case is cleared with trumped-up evidence that Kerney just can't buy. No amount of threats will deter him. No sinister warnings will coerce him to let the case lie. For Kerney, the investigation has only just begun -- and it's one he may not survive.

bn.com

About the only law-enforcement job Kevin Kerney (ex—sheriff's lieutenant, ex—Forest Service, ex—New Mexico State Police) hasn't held yet is Chief of the Santa Fe Police Department, and that's where this sixth case finds him. But before he can even get the normal trials of new leadership—reallocating funds, cutting deadwood, learning the political ropes—out of the way, he hits the ground running with the murder of Phyllis Terrell, the defiantly promiscuous estranged wife of a powerful US ambassador without portfolio. In minutes, it seems, an FBI task force is all over the case, and in the time it takes Kerney to question Phyllis's Mexican landscaper and turn him loose, task force head Charlie Perry has wrapped up the case. As Perry smugly tells Kerney, Scott Gatlin, who managed the ranch of Phyllis's wealthy father and warmed her bed along with dozens of others, has shot himself after obligingly leaving behind a full confession. This neat solution is chilling news, since it strongly suggests a government cover-up whose tentacles reach high and deep. Digging into the apparently unrelated killing of a Marymount priest, Kerney and a pair of trusted cops trace a nefarious plot that extends from legal maneuvering—wiretaps, disinformation, court orders to turn over evidence—to murder by government decree. McGarrity (The Judas Judge, 2000, etc.) is just the writer to keep the high-octane conspiracy clear, even though individual victims don't have time to leave much of an impression. Kerney's mind-boggling look at your tax dollars at work is his finest hour yet.

Kirkus Reviews