Angel of Darkness

April 2, 2012
A teenage girl’s murder on the grounds of the Holloway Institute, a mental health facility in a small Delaware town, baffles the police, both living and spectral, in Munger’s eerie, somber third Dead Detective mystery (after Desolate Angel and Angel Interrupted, both under the pseudonym Chaz McGee). Suspicion falls on Holloway inmate Otis Redman Parker, a stone-cold serial killer, since the victim was killed in Parker’s distinctively perverse style, the details of which were never made public. But Parker is locked in his ward at all times. The two detectives on the case have some otherworldly assistance from the spirit of the late Kevin Fahey, a failure as a husband, father, and detective, who hovers about, eternally trapped in limbo, yet serving as the best sort of omniscient observer. Munger tips her hand a bit too early, but she keeps the action spinning until the final page. Agent: Jane Chelius, Jane Chelius Literary Agency.

May 15, 2012
The lost soul of an unsuccessful police officer roams a Delaware town seeking redemption. Before he was killed in a drug bust gone wrong, Kevin Fahey was no great shakes as a police detective, husband or father. Now that he's dead, Kevin hangs around the Holloway Institute, whose troubled residents try to overcome their mental problems with a wide range of outcomes. Incarcerated in the unit for the criminally insane is Otis Redman Parker, who managed to finagle an insanity plea after brutally murdering several women. The body of a young woman is found near the Institute with all the marks of Parker's former kills, many of them unknown to the public. Besides feeling pessimistic over Parker's efforts to overturn his guilty plea, Kevin must also watch his son Michael spend time at the Institute in an effort to handle his problems, many caused by Kevin's death. The police team investigating the murder is sure Parker is somehow involved, since it was one of the few cases that Kevin did not screw up, but they expect proving his guilt will be difficult. The teenage girl who was killed was Michael's friend and the former girlfriend of his best friend Adam, a bright boy who leads a hellish life with an abusive father. Hoping to help solve the case, unseen Kevin tags along with the investigators and listens in on conversations in the Institute. Since he has no corporeal body, he cannot act himself, but he aims to influence others in a desperate attempt to nail the killer. Munger's third Dead Detective case (Angel Interrupted, 2010, etc.) is a police procedural with a twist. Kevin's latest attempt at redemption is filled with anger and anguish right up to the exciting climax.

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June 1, 2012

Spooky and most decidedly dead, Kevin Fahey works from beyond his own grave in his third entry (after Angel Interrupted). This paranormal procedural has a dark tone, for Kevin seeks redemption for his own mistakes.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2012
In his third outing (the previous two entries in the series were written under the pseudonym Chaz McGee), Kevin Fahey, the deceased ex-cop turned ethereal sleuth, is seriously puzzled by a recent homicide. The murder appears to be the handiwork of a nasty serial killer who has been locked up at the Holloway Institute for Mental Health for a decade. While Kevin's corporeal counterparts investigate, he does his own snooping. This is a rather slight mystery, relying heavily on Fahey's likable narration to keep readers interested, but fans of ghostly crime tales will want to check it out.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)