Paul Battaglia, New
York DA and Alexandria Cooper’s mentor, is dead. He was murdered on
the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In fact, he fell onto
Alex, knocking her down. Alex is not in top form. She’s still
suffering from the ordeal of being kidnapped and held hostage. She’s
drinking too much and isn’t her usual feisty self.
Her position
regrading Battaglia’s death is unclear. Is she a witness or a
suspect? When she finds herself taken into protective custody and
stashed in a mental hospital in the Bronx, it feels more like she’s
being treated as a suspect. However, the ordeal yanks her back into
her old self and with Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, she sets off
to solve the mystery.
The background
information about New York, particularly the Bronx Zoological Park is
fascinating, as is the information about exotic animals captured in
other countries and smuggled into the US to serve as sport for avid
hunters. I was particularly intrigued by Fairstein including
information about Justice Scalia’s death at a hunting ranch
suggesting foul play.
I was disappointed
in Alex in the beginning of the book. She was more passive than
usual. However, she recovered and the ending was up to her usual
standard. Mike Chapman is a very understanding partner. In spite of
Alex’s scratchiness, he took care of her. It wasn’t the best Alex
Cooper novel, but it’s a good read with interesting bits of
history.
I received this book
from Dutton for this review.
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