Review_FICTION
46 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 9, 2020
Review_FICTION
Farrow’s gripping eighth Émile Cinq-
Mars novel (after 2019’s Ball Park). Flash
forward to 1978, to Cinq-Mars’s first day
on the job with his new rank of sergeant-
detective. He’s called to an apartment
house in Park Extension to investigate a
curious set of burglaries: in one night,
17 of the building’s apartments and 11
storage sheds were broken into, with the
thieves taking primarily toasters and
coffee makers. In one of the apartments,
Cinq-Mars discovers the body of a man
“impaled through the neck with what
looked like a machete.” Mafia members,
Russian gangsters, Hells Angels, and dirty
cops thicken the plot as the significance of
the prologue, in which the police recruit
an unidentified young man for a dangerous
undercover mission, gradually becomes
clear. Cinq-Mars’s wry, often amusing
observations spice up the action. Fans of
character-driven police procedurals will
be satisfied. (May)Deadly Waters
Dot Hutchison. Thomas & Mercer, $15.95
trade paper (302p) ISBN 978-1-5420-0557-9
In this disappointing series launch
from Hutchison (The Butterfly Garden),
University of Florida undergrad Rebecca
Sorley often is the designated sober one,
guiding her roommates home after bar-
hopping in Gainesville. Her friends are
usually pliable drunks, except for the
volatile Ellie, who routinely picks fights
with men she believes are verbally or
sexually harassing women. Often banned
from bars, Ellie has broken many male
college students’ noses. But her friends
wonder if Ellie’s vigilante justice has gone
too far when several male college students,
each with an abusive reputation, are mauled
by alligators that live in the ponds near
campus. When Ellie is charged with
murder, Rebecca plays a leading role in
her defense. The weak plot latches on to
wearisome clichés of the #MeToo move-
ment with every woman a potential victim
and every man a potential rapist, except
for decent Patrick Corby, a Gainesville PD
detective, who shows genuine concern for
the women. Subpar tension and a lack of
suspense further mar the story. Other
writers have done a more nuanced job of
depicting strong female friendships and
women protecting one another. (May)after quitting the richest law firm in
Austin, Tex., to focus on serving the
homeless community. With a client list of
ragtag characters who mostly spend their
nights in shelters or alleys, David is rarely
paid for his services. When persuaded by
one of his beatnik legal team to represent a
schizophrenic 37-year-old drifter accused
of killing county prosecutor Luke Murphy,
David experiences the full weight of the
DA’s office bearing down on him and
fears he’s committed to “an unwinnable
juggernaut case” that could destroy his
company. But as he investigates his client’s
abstruse connection to Murphy, an infor-
mant tips him off to dangerous, corrupt
power players, and a bigger, more sinister
plot emerges—one that strengthens
David’s belief in his client’s innocence and
makes him determined to expose the truth.
Zunker breaks no new ground, but he
sustains a disciplined focus on plot and
character. John Grisham fans will appre-
ciate this familiar but effective tale. (May)Roar Back
John Farrow. Severn, $28.99 (256p) ISBN 978-
0-7278-8937-9
A prologue set in 1958 in a run-down
Montreal neighborhood, Park Extension
(“the juvenile delinquency capital of
Canada”), sets the ominous tone foropera company under her stage name, Ella
Shane. A “trouser diva” whose mezzo-
soprano voice suits her to male roles
originally written for castrati, Ella is
performing as Romeo when the singer
playing Juliet, Violette Saint Claire, dies
on stage. Ella knows little about Violette,
so when the coroner rules the death an
accidental nicotine poisoning, Ella con-
siders the matter closed. Then Gilbert
Saint Aubyn, Duke of Leith, announces
that Violette is his missing cousin, Lady
Frances Saint Aubyn, who disappeared
from England two years before. Ella
agrees to help the attractive duke find out
more about the death. The autopsy report
reveals handprint-shaped bruising, and
Ella narrowly escapes several unlikely
accidents in what becomes a murder case.
Appealing characters and the well-drawn
opera-world setting compensate only in
part for the slow, unsuspenseful plot. Kalb
displays enough talent to suggest she’ll
do better in the sequel. Agent: Eric Myers,
Myers Literary Management. (May)An Unequal Defense
Chad Zunker. Thomas & Mercer, $15.95 trade
paper (268p) ISBN 978-1-5420-0005-5
In Zunker’s solid sequel to 2010’s An
Equal Justice, altruistic lawyer David Adams
struggles to maintain his fledgling practice★ House Privilege
Mike Lawson. Atlantic Monthly, $26 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8021-4847-6I
n Lawson’s excellent 12th Joe DeMarco thriller (after
2019’s House Arrest), Congressman John Fitzpatrick
Mahoney, who lost his position as speaker of the
House eight years earlier, is poised to take back his
former job, but he has a problem. His good friend
billionaire Connor Russell has died with his wife in a
plane crash, leaving their 15-year-old daughter, Cassie,
an orphan. As Mahoney’s goddaughter, she’s now his legal
responsibility. Mahoney sends DeMarco, his personal
fixer, to Boston to check on the girl. In Boston, Joe
meets with lawyer Erin Kelly, the manager of the
Russell trust fund, who suggests that Mahoney transfer
his guardianship of Cassie to her. Meanwhile, DeMarco needs to take care of a
blackmailer who’s squeezing Mahoney. The blackmailer claims he has evidence of
an affair Mahoney had 15 years earlier. No surprise, the resourceful Demarco finds
ingenious ways to solve all the problems. The author’s felicitous style will keep
readers smiling throughout. Lawson remains at the top of his game. Agent: David
Gernert, Gernert Company. (July)