Life Without Parole

Starred review from March 12, 2012
Two reality shows preoccupy Kate Conway in O’Donohue’s outstanding second mystery featuring the freelance Chicago TV producer (after 2011’s Missing Persons). When Kate signs on to Opening Night, a show about a new restaurant, she discovers that Vera Bingham, her late husband’s mistress, has brought her on board the show. Kate, despite her resentment and generally crusty nature, takes a liking to the charmingly friendly Vera. For a second show, Life Without Parole, a documentary about convicts who will die in prison, Kate interviews two very different men: Brick Tyler, an unapologetically tough murderer; and Tim Campbell, who seems sweet—maybe too sweet. Kate’s crew, cameraman Andres Pena and sound man Victor Pilot, work with Kate on both shows and provide a somewhat dysfunctional family dynamic. When one of the investors in the restaurant is murdered, suspicion falls at first on Vera. The convicted murderers supply Kate with some surprising clues. Agent: Sharon Bowers, the Miller Agency.

March 1, 2012
A TV producer, bored with the shows she's been doing, has no idea that her two new entries will provide her with a walk on the wild side. Independent producer Kate Conway is still struggling with the death of the husband who'd left her for another woman. Her cameraman Andres and her sound man Victor, concerned with her lack of interest in any relationships, offer little help because they're too busy working on two new documentaries: one about lifers in a nearby prison, the other on a group of investors opening a new restaurant. One of the lifers is a stoic who's accepted his fate; another is a charmer who insists he's innocent and tries to enlist Kate to help. The investor who proposed Kate for the restaurant job is Vera, the mistress of Kate's husband, a guileless, wealthy woman who wants to befriend the producer. She's invested at the behest of her new boyfriend, a man Kate instantly suspects is only after Vera's money. The other investors include an entrepreneur with a dangerous past and an ambitious wife, a front-of-house man with outlandish ideas and a driven chief eager for a new opportunity. When one of them is murdered, Vera, who finds the body, tops the suspect list. Between them, she and Kate tell the police enough lies to get them into deep trouble unless Kate can solve the crime. Kate can only hope that her prison interviews give her some insight into the mind of a murderer. This sophomore outing for clever Kate (Missing Persons, 2011) works several intriguing twists into its two interconnected mysteries.

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