Dancer in the Flames

January 14, 2013
This dark, satisfying crime novel from Solomita (Angel Face) introduces Boots Littlewood, a deeply flawed Brooklyn police detective perfectly cast to deal with the hard luck, hard-living characters that surround him. Boots passes on a tip about a witness to a cop killing that rises through the chain of command until it comes back to land hard on the witness, hapless car thief Vinnie Palermo. As a result of the tip, Boots is appointed to the task force investigating the killing of Capt. Christopher Parker, and is partnered with attractive Jill Kelly (aka Crazy Jill), niece of the chief of detectives, Mike Shaw. Boots sees a frame coming down on Palermo, finds evidence that would clear Palermo, and suffers a beating that sends a clear message. Boots gets the message, delivers one of his own, and—with Jill’s aid—finds links to other crimes and other cops. Solomita seasons his tale with grit and gristle, and Boots deserves more than a one-shot appearance.

February 1, 2013
A nothingburger murder committed by an associate leads Brooklyn police detective Boots Littlewood into a wild maze of felonies past and present. Sure, Frankie Drago killed his sister. But it's not as if he meant to push Angie down the basement stairs or harm her in any other way, even though he took the trouble to strip the body, fake an abduction and strangling, and dump it in Prospect Park. Since Boots has been availing himself of Drago's bookmaking services to place bets on the Yankees for years, the least he can do is cut Drago some slack in return for information on a much more juicy homicide: the execution of Capt. Christopher Parker. Drago names a witness, car thief Vinnie Palermo, who saw the killing go down. When Boots, newly partnered with Detective Jill Kelly, digs up Palermo and turns him over to his boss in the 64th Precinct, Homicide Lt. Carl Levine, Levine's superiors respond by stitching up Palermo for the murder and closing the case. What's not closed is Boots' sense of justice, his personal safety--people begin shooting at him as if it were opening day of hunting season--or his lust for the wild woman he's been paired with. Together, the two salt-and-acid partners trace a spreading pool of police corruption back a decade to the case of the Lipstick Killer and forward to a series of coverups that implicate nearly every Brooklyn officer who's ever donned a uniform. Solomita, who made his bones as a noir stylist (Angel Face, 2011, etc.), keeps the sex as gritty as the violence. By the fade-out, you may feel in need of a hot shower.

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January 1, 2013
Detective Irwin Boots Littlefield, of Brooklyn's 64th Precinct, has a certain moral code. He may occasionally keep ill-gotten gains found in an investigation, but he won't let an innocent man go down for murder. Assigned to a task force to find Police Captain Chris Parker's killer, Boots is partnered with Crazy Jill Kelly, so-called for her quick temper and deadly aim, the daughter of a murdered cop and niece of the chief of detectives. When Boots ferrets out habitual car thief Vinnie Palermo, who witnessed Parker's death while hijacking a Nissan, the brass charge Palermo with murder. But Boots doesn't buy it, losing friends on the force and paying dearly as he searches for the actual killer, a process that uncovers an atmosphere of corruption and a cache of dirty cops. Solomita's trademark brisk dialogue and relentless pace shine here, but his primary characters fall a little flat: Boots lacks appeal, despite being described as universally well liked, and his relationship with Jill seldom goes beyond heated sexual encounters, despite allegations to the contrary. Accomplished hard-boiled crime a little short on character development.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)