An Unacceptable Death

Munch Mancini, recovering drug addict, seems to have her life on track. She's working as an auto mechanic, raising her daughter, and is engaged to a police officer. When her fiancé is killed by fellow cops in a drug bust and questions are raised about his involvement on the wrong side of the law, Munch takes things into her own hands and searches for the truth. Anna Fields reads in a flat monotone that lacks excitement or any sense of suspense. Her character voices are weak and unconvincing, though her Spanish accent is quite good. A weak plot combined with a weak performance make this a poor choice for listening. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from November 28, 2005
At the start of Seranella's outstanding eighth Miranda "Munch" Mancini mystery (after 2004's Unwilling Accomplice
), the Los Angeles auto mechanic is enjoying a domestic stability that she never thought possible after her sordid existence as a drug addict and prostitute. Indeed, the challenge Seranella faces as her heroine moves further away from her lurid past is to keep the sense of conflict alive. She certainly accomplishes this when Munch's fiancé, detective Enrique "Rico" Chacón, is shot dead by his fellow cops in a drug bust gone wrong. We learn that there had been a bounty put on Munch's head by the newly reformed Satan's Pride Motorcycle gang (whom Munch had helped take down years back) and that Rico's death may have resulted from his attempts to protect her. To compound matters, the police department is withholding Chacón's pension from his family, claiming that he was corrupt. Determined to clear his name and to get revenge, Munch sets out on a dangerous investigation of her own. This is character-driven crime fiction at its finest by one of the genre's most accomplished stylists.