Under the Color of Law

June 18, 2001
Popular cop Kevin Kerney acquires new depth and substance in this sixth installment in McGarrity's solid series. In his previous job as deputy chief of the state police, Kerney killed a cop gone bad. Now he is settling into his new job as police chief of Santa Fe, N.Mex., and his new subordinates are of two minds whether they should trust him or not. They have ample opportunity to observe him in action, because as the book opens, Phyllis Terrell, the estranged wife of an ambassador and ex-military honcho, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of her hilltop mansion, and Father Joseph Mitchell, an ex-soldier turned priest researching the government's covert operations, turns up dead in the Christian Brothers Residence at the College of Santa Fe. The police investigation has barely begun before evil Feds, who dismiss Kerney as merely "an over-the-hill lightweight cop who occasionally got lucky," move in and start sanitizing the crime scenes. The chief keeps digging on the sly, of course, as every possible witness ends up dead. McGarrity (Tularosa; The Judas Judge; etc.) writes well, with chapters that march the reader along, and is very convincing on procedural matters—his credentials include a stint as deputy sheriff for Santa Fe County. Unfortunately, when he moves into action movie territory, the material does not seem natural for him, and in particular the main antagonist—a human killing machine—never comes off as anything more than an image taken from film. The strengths of this book are in the quiet moments, the procedural detail, the local scene and Kerney's reflections on his history and his future.

July 1, 2001
This entry in McGarrity's well-realized Kevin Kerney series (following Judas Judge) features a strong, likable protagonist who is now, after holding a variety of law enforcement assignments, Santa Fe's new police chief. As in all of McGarrity's books, the New Mexico setting, this time primarily within the city of Santa Fe, is as much a presence as the supporting characters, who are all intriguing and believable. It all begins with the murder of the estranged wife of an ambassador-at-large, a crime that brings in federal operatives concerned about national security issues. A second, seemingly unconnected murder of a visiting priest-scholar eventually reveals to Kerney and his detectives that there is far more to both killings than the feds are letting on. Deftly weaving the hunt for the solution to these murders with Kerney's adjustment to his new position and his long-distance relationship with his pregnant wife, McGarrity has written a good, stand-alone mystery and added another solid chapter to a wonderful mystery series. Highly recommended. Ann Forister, Roseville P.L., CA

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2001
After six novels, McGarrity's Kevin Kerney series has established itself as one of the most consistently satisfying procedurals on the market. McGarrity, a former deputy sheriff for Santa Fe county, clearly knows police work, and his experience is reflected in precisely detailed descriptions of what cops do on and off the job. His respect for individual policemen and women is palpable, but so, too, is his hard-won understanding of governmental inefficiency and arrogance. The latter takes center stage here as Kerney, recently installed as Santa Fe police chief, must deal with power-hungry bureaucrats and lazy cops while trying to solve the murder of a U.S. ambassador's wife. When an FBI antiterrorist team attempts to shut the local police out of the murder investigation, Kerney smells cover-up and follows the trail to a maverick group of intelligence agents playing well outside the rules. McGarrity makes less use of his southwestern setting this time, but he handles the familiar theme of dedicated cop fighting the system with a masterful mix of realism (it really is a no-win situation) and suspense.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)