Starred review from April 11, 2011
In this captivating first in a projected series from Gran (Dope), PI Claire DeWitt comes to New Orleans to help a client, Leon Salvatore, find his ADA uncle, Vic Willing, who went missing at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Claire relies often on the "maddening... notoriously difficult" Détection by legendary French detective Jacques Silette ("No one is innocent. The only question is How will you bear your portion of guilt?") as well as her dreams for guidance. In one dream, Vic tells her, in language that echoes Silette's handbook, to: "Follow the clues.... Believe nothing. Question everything." Suspicion falls on an 18-year-old career-criminal-in-the-making, Andray Fairview, who once worked for Vic and broke into his house. Claire is soon sucked into the underbelly of a city gasping for air. The haunting atmosphere of post-Katrina New Orleans lingers long after the revelation of Vic's fate.
August 29, 2011
Claire DeWitt can hack into police files, discover hidden evidence, and sort the innocent from the guilty because she’s the best detective in the world. And the mix of drugs she samples helps boost her confidence as she scours New Orleans in search of Vic Willing, a district attorney gone missing during Hurricane Katrina. But mostly, this procedural is about Claire shooting off her mouth and her gun in rapid succession. Carol Monda perfectly renders Claire’s sarcastic repartee and keeps this tightly paced narrative moving quickly. However, Monda struggles with accents, particularly the distinctive Cajun and Creole dialects of New Orleans. Nonetheless, she does produce a host of voices—some more distinct than others—for the book’s many characters and provides narration that is both engaging and entertaining. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover.