Land of Shadows

Starred review from April 21, 2014
A racially explosive Los Angeles provides the backdrop for this exceptional crime novel from Hall (A Quiet Storm). Elouise “Lou” Norton, an LAPD homicide detective known on the street as “Lockjaw,” has solved 90% of the cases she’s led. She’s a smart, sassy black woman, “sweet as apple pie... laced with arsenic and rusty razor blades,” bedeviled by the 25-year-old disappearance of her sister, Tori, and torn asunder emotionally by her straying husband, Greg. Lou is also saddled with a brash newbie partner, Colin Taggert, in a case involving a murdered Jane Doe that Lou suspects is tied to her sister’s fate. Dead-on dialogue and atmospheric details help propel a tale full of tormenting moral issues. If the bad grow so close to the good, how do the cops weed them out? And how do we right all these wrongs? Lou, a brave lady in a brave book, does the best she can. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

May 15, 2014
An African-American LAPD detective's approach to a murder case is filtered through the experiences of her own early life.Elouise "Lou" Norton grew up in a tough section of Los Angeles. How tough? Her sister Tori was most likely a murder victim 30 years ago, though her body was never found. Now Lou is married to a wealthy man who cheated on her in the past and who's at it again during a business trip to Japan. When Monique Dowler, a young African-American girl, is found hanging in a closet in an unfinished condo complex, Lou's new partner, Colin Taggert-a white cop who recently moved from Colorado to escape a bad relationship-thinks she killed herself, but Lou has an excellent reason to disagree. The man who's building the complex over community objections is Napoleon Crase, whom she suspects of having murdered Tori. Monique was no innocent. Her many boyfriends included a minister's son and a gangbanger. Once the coroner confirms that her death was murder, Lou and Colin have plenty of suspects to consider. They're disturbed that Monique was found wearing her cheerleading outfit even though she'd recently graduated from high school and had been accepted at a local college. They discover that Monique and her older sister both drove expensive cars and wore designer clothes their family could hardly have afforded. When Lou goes back to her childhood streets to investigate, she must walk a fine line between past and present.This first procedural from Hall (A Quiet Storm, 2002, etc.) combines a conflicted, gutsy heroine and a complex, many-layered mystery.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2014

Lou Norton's life changed irrevocably the day her older sister went missing from their Los Angeles ghetto neighborhood. Decades have passed, but Norton, now a homicide detective with the LAPD, is still haunted by and fixated on the unsolved crime. When Lou is called to her old neighborhood to investigate the death of a young girl, she becomes convinced that the crime was committed by the same person who took her sister so long ago. Grappling with searing memories of her childhood, as well as dealing with her charming yet cheating spouse, Lou confronts the realities of her past along with her present. Hall's (A Quiet Storm) promising series debut introduces a black, female lead in the male-dominated world of the LAPD. The author has fun playing with stereotypes and has developed a strong and likable protagonist. The story shines during Lou's flashbacks to her childhood, which are filled with heart-wrenching memories that make the wisecracking detective more accessible. However, the chapters narrated by the killer slow the momentum and create some bumpy transitions. VERDICT Recommended for libraries with a strong following for police procedurals and a welcome addition for collections seeking more diverse characters in the mystery genre. [Previewed in Kristi Chadwick's "Pushing Boundaries" feature, LJ 4/15/13.]--Amy Nolan, St. Joseph, MI

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
Homicide detective Elouise Lou Norton knows that the young black woman hanging in the closet of an unfinished Los Angeles condominium complex isn't a suicide. She also knows that the development belongs to Napoleon Crase, the last person to see her sister alive before she disappeared 30 years ago. With a wet-behind-the-ears new partner to train and a husband who's blaming the time difference while away on business for missed phone calls, Lou already has a lot on her plate. But nobody's going to get between her and this murder. Lou is a good cop and fun to watchgreat instincts, a no-nonsense interviewing style, and uncompromising in her efforts to catch the bad guy. She's a well-rounded character who can keep her sense of humor even when her work hits painfully close to home. As she tells her partner, I'm sassy, but not Florence-the-Jeffersons'-maid sassy. Hall's first book, A Quiet Storm (2002), was a domestic drama about a family facing mental illness; here she moves easily into the suspense genrewhere hopefully she and Officer Norton will stay for a long time to come.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)