Fighting Chance

Starred review from July 14, 2014
In her fiendishly clever 29th Gregor Demarkian novel (after 2013’s Hearts of Sand), Edgar-winner Haddam once again brings Agatha Christie’s magic tricks into the 21st century. The brilliant ex-FBI agent, who consults for law-enforcement agencies, must try to exonerate his dear friend Fr. Tibor Kasparian, a popular priest for the Armenian chuch in his Philadelphia neighborhood, who has been accused of murder. Father Tibor was found in the chambers of Judge Martha Handling, holding the bloody gavel used to bash her head in, and a video later turns up showing him wielding the weapon. Furthermore, Father Tibor declines to aid in his own defense, refusing to speak with Gregor or anyone else about what really happened. The truth may lie with the victim’s rumored involvement with the Administrative Solutions of America, a private prison company. The solution is both surprising and logical, demonstrating that Haddam has few peers at playing fair. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Agency.

September 1, 2014
The arrest of his best friend introduces not Gregor Demarkian's toughest case but the one that may come closest to his heart. You wouldn't think of Father Tibor Kasparian as Cavanaugh Street's most likely killer. But you might change your mind if you knew that Martha Handling, the Juvenile Court judge before whom he'd agreed to testify on behalf of DVD shoplifter Stefan Maldovanian, routinely took bribes from Mark Granby, of Administrative Solutions, to send juveniles who came before her to longer sentences so that the prisons Administrative Solutions ran could operate at peak efficiency, "like hotels." Your faith in Tibor would be seriously shaken if you found him in the judge's chambers bent over her blood-soaked body. And it would be a rare friend indeed who could maintain his innocence even after seeing the cellphone video of him apparently beating Judge Handling to death with her own gavel. Fortunately, Gregor (Hearts of Sand, 2013, etc.) is just that sort of friend. Aided by an unlikely crew of helpers from the Philadelphia mayor's office, he fights staunchly to get Tibor out of jail over his strong objections. He figures out who was last in the judge's chambers despite the fact that she herself had obligingly disabled the security cameras meant to protect her. And he incidentally answers the question of why his neighbor Mikel Dekanian is in danger of losing his home to J.P. CitiWells, a bank that has no financial interest in the property. Although the Armenian-American Hercule Poirot may not add new luster to his formidable reputation as a sleuth, he gives a charming and powerful demonstration of civic responsibility in action.

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August 1, 2014
In the latest Gregor Demarkian novel, the retired FBI agent is shocked to learn that a close friend, Father Tibor Kasparian, has been charged with murder. Gregor immediately comes to his friend's defense, but this isn't going to be a simple case: Father Tibor was found with the victim, a judge, covered in the woman's blood and holding what appeared to be the murder weapon. As usual, the book is a joy to read. Although Demarkian's been around for a while (this is the twenty-ninth book in the series), the author keeps revealing new facets of his character, and the mystery, as always, is complex and very suspenseful. This book, too, has the added dimension of friendship: Gregor is usually helping out strangers, or people he barely knows, but here he has a deep personal connection to the case, a connection that could affect his judgment. Another strong entry in a series that could easily go another 30-odd books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)