Relentless

October 28, 2019
Set during cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C., Wilson’s solid debut introduces Det. Brian “Brick” Kavanagh and his partner, Ron Hayes. The two are called out in the early hours of the morning to the Tidal Basin, where they find a young woman’s naked body floating in the water. Brick knows that this murder, at the height of the D.C. tourist season, has the potential to make the powers-that-be nervous and add stress to his job. At the end of his shift, Brick stops at his favorite Irish bar, where the bartender asks him to check up on Jose Delgado, a trusted busboy who has missed several days of work. At Jose’s apartment, Brick finds the busboy murdered, as well as a possible link between Jose and the Tidal Basin victim. Mystery veterans won’t find much they haven’t seen before, though the villain’s unusual background is a plus. Wilson (the pen name for a playwright) has created a protagonist with the full complement of angst-inducing problems and an appealing white knight sense of decency.

October 15, 2019
A veteran Washington cop catches an unsavory and complex case that cuts too close to home. Detective Brian Kavanagh, known as "Brick" because of his red hair, is called to the Tidal Basin with partner Ron Hayes to snag a floating corpse. Rather than wait for the police dive team, they hop a locked fence to retrieve the body. Later, at Boland's Mill, Brick's watering hole of choice, he confronts another problem. Crusty proprietor Eamonn Boland's not at his usual post, regaling patrons; when he finally arrives, the elderly Eamonn looks decidedly unhealthy. He's beside himself about the absence of Jose, a normally reliable busboy. Brick and Rory, Eamonn's nephew, go to Jose's apartment, where they discover his corpse, clearly a victim of murder. Brick manages to coax Jose's ginger cat, Elvis, out from under the sink, but there's no sign of the sister Jose lives with. Saddest news of all: She's the girl in the Tidal Basin. Her name is Maria Delgado, and she's from Guatemala. Brick and Ron's investigation begins with interviews of Jose and Maria's neighbors, a stereotypical array of Hispanic sex offenders, wife beaters, and gang members. The brokenhearted Eamonn, meanwhile, decides to accompany the two young victims back to Guatemala. When Brick finds evidence that Maria may be the victim of a serial killer, he gets little support at his precinct. Must he strike out on his own to find the perp? Like her D.C. Dirty Harry, Wilson's debut novel is bluntly effective. It lacks finesse but offers pace and timeliness.

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November 1, 2019
Homicide detective Brick Kavanagh is no fan of the "good cop-bad cop" routine. Treating suspects with respect, he says, is more effective. Imagine that! There's more. When he interviews someone down on his luck, he brings along a bag of burgers. Talking with a witness in the midst of moving, he helps her dismantle a crib. Readers can be forgiven if they find this Washington, D.C., cop more interesting than any crime plot an author might devise. But business is business, and Wilson does a good job whipping up some mysterious murders. The first victim is a woman found facedown in D.C.'s Tidal Basin; the second is a male Guatemalan immigrant?hardworking, blameless, beloved. Kavanagh spots that the second victim is the dead woman's brother. The puzzlement deepens when a lowlife confesses; Kavanagh knows the confession is bogus, so what's going on? The answer comes in a blast of violence, all the more gripping because of the author's deliberate, low-key style. The action is top-notch, but it's no surprise that what one remembers most is Kavanagh, days later, carrying flowers across town for the bereaved.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)