Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Legal Thriller
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
An
ex-California girl, V.S. Kemanis is now a New York based attorney. In addition
to the prior Dana Hargrove legal mystery, she has three collections of short
stories available.
For more,
visit the author’s website.
Description:
“Prosecutor
Dana Hargrove has left those rookie days of Thursday’s
List far behind. It’s 1994, and the murder rate in New York City is sky
high. Dana belongs to an elite cadre of prosecutors on the “homicide chart,” that
24/7 roster of on-call responders to murder scenes. Her next turn on the chart
comes at a bad time, during an exhausting week of courtroom battles. A surprise
witness of dubious credibility has surfaced, threatening to undermine her
recently-won murder conviction against a reputed gang member. Back on the
chart, Dana receives a call in the middle of the night, plunging her into a new
murder investigation that hits dangerously close to home—a case that will
change her life forever.”
Appraisal:
The first
Dana Hargrove book, Thursday’s List,
took place in the ‘80s. In Homicide Chart
the timeline moves up several years, 1994 to be exact. Dana has a lot more
experience as a prosecutor, not to mention the additional responsibility and
pressure from a caseload made up of murder prosecutions. To top it off, she now
has a young son whose care she juggles with the help of her husband and a
nanny.
This story
focuses on two homicide cases, one with a gang member already on trial and
another where Dana has a personal stake. With a couple minor exceptions (a
detour for some unneeded backstory on a minor character and unneeded repeating
of some additional backstory regarding Dana’s mother-in-law), the story is well
written. There was plenty of mystery and intrigue that kept me guessing how the
two cases would resolve. A worthwhile read that left me eager to see what comes
next for Dana.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues.
Rating: **** Four Stars
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