Broken Places

March 15, 2018
Nothing can deflect a private investigator from finding the killer of her surrogate father.Cass Raines was a cop until she and her partner, Detective Ben Mickerson, were almost killed in an incident they had under control until James Farraday, a glory-seeking cop with a lot of clout in the Chicago PD, rushed in and precipitated a gunfight. Raised by her grandparents after her mother died and her father took off, Cass was one of the few African-American women on the force, and she has no tolerance for bullshit. After leaving the force, she hung out her shingle as a private eye. Still wracked with guilt over her inability to prevent Farraday from killing a kid who was about to surrender, she happily works small cases for small money. When Father Raymond Heaton, whom Cass calls Pop, and a gangbanger are found shot dead in St. Brendan's Church and Farraday catches the case, Cass is determined to find the truth instead of accepting Farraday's pat answer that Pop killed the kid in a struggle and then killed himself out of guilt. Pop, an activist priest who supported righteous people and causes, had made quite a few enemies but was always giving second chances to even the worst of them. Although his housekeeper, Thea Bey, is no gossip, she gives Cass the names of several people she knows have recently tangled with Pop. Ben Mickerson, who's also on the case, warns Cass to leave it to the police and then passes her information that may help her. Her search takes her deep into gang territory and off on a wild chase after a mentally disturbed homeless man she believes witnessed the murders. She knows she's getting close when she becomes a target of the killer, but will she survive to solve the mystery?Clark's kickoff to an exciting new character-driven series explores the dynamics between a black investigator and a white world in a story ripped from the headlines.

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Starred review from April 23, 2018
Cass Raines, the intelligent, perceptive narrator of Clark’s unforgettable first novel and series launch, runs her own one-woman detective agency in Chicago. A former Chicago PD detective, Cass left the force after being shot during a confrontation with an armed suspect two years earlier. Soon after her old friend Fr. Ray “Pop” Heaton asks her to look into a vandalism incident at his church, she discovers him shot to death in the confessional. Near the altar lies the body of a young man wearing gang colors. The self-assured yet incompetent police detective assigned to the case sees this one as quickly closed. Since Cass owes so much to Pop, who helped her grandparents raise her after her mother died, she decides to investigate on her own. While Cass is busy fighting for justice in her neighborhood, she may also have a little time for a policeman she admires, a certain Detective Weber,who’s separated from his wife. Distinctive, vividly written characters lift this promising debut. Readers will be eager for the sequel. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency.

June 1, 2018

Cass Raines was a Chicago cop until Farraday, her incompetent colleague, interfered in a confrontation with an armed suspect that left Cass shot and responsible for killing the young man. Two years later, she's left the force and now makes her living as a private investigator. Cass appears to be tough and independent, but she's built a close network of friends. Among them is Father Ray Heaton, a kind of parental figure to Cass, whose own dad deserted her when she was 12. Now "Pop" needs her help; his church and rectory have been vandalized. When Pop and a young gangbanger are found dead in the church and Farraday is assigned the case, an angry Cass starts her own investigation. This one is personal. VERDICT Clark's compelling, suspenseful, and action-packed debut introduces a dogged, tough African American woman investigator who is complex and courageous and surrounded by a family of fascinating misfits. Fans of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone or Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski will welcome Cass Raines to their ranks. [Previewed in Lisa Levy's "Crime Fiction's Girl Power, '" LJ 4/15/18.]--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

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