A great read

Once again Karin Slaughter comes to the fore as one of America’s leading crime novelists in a less than complimentary tale set in 1970s Alabama, Georgia.

Racism, anti-Semitism and host of other -isms are the bedrock of a predominantly all-male, redneck police force manned by drunken, fornicating, homophobic and otherwise debauched cops who think nothing of tampering with evidence if they can get a conviction and for whom it is even more sweet if a person of colour is convicted.

Struggling to find her way as one of the few female police officers is Maggie Lawson, who has “blue” coursing through her veins.

Her Uncle Terry and brother Jimmy are also cops and have enough clout to make life hell for her and all the other women who dare to join the force.

Enter Kate Murphy, a rookie officer whose first day on the job makes her question what she’s doing trying to join the police.

Kate comes from the “right side of the tracks”, is trying to get over her husband’s death in Vietnam and, worst of all, is Jewish.

There is no such thing in this milieu as a woman detective but when policemen become targets for ferocious killings the duo has its own ideas about who the killer is and how to catch him.

Braving an area known for its pimps, prostitutes and drug lords, they set out while their male colleagues drink themselves into a stupor to collect information, evidence and witnesses and find the shooter.

And, of course, they succeed.

This a story liberally spiced with violence and hatred which builds steadily to a surprise climax.

It’s a good read both for its drama and its reflection of the life and times of the American “Deep South” of the early ’70s.