"Police procedural par excellence"
Chicago Alderman Skip Murphy kills his bedroom partner
bargirl Sophie Novak during a rough sex incident. Knowing
his career is dead if his deadly dalliance surfaces, Skip
needs to cover up the crime. He turns to Violent Crimes
Unit Detective Joe Donegan, an individual who uses the
badge to successfully perform illegal activities, to help
clean up his problem. Not only does the corpse burn to
ashes, but also witnesses who have seen Skip with Sophie
are killed. Joe sees his new work as an upward mobility career
move. Police Commander Larry Cole and his partner Sergeant
Blackie Silvestri know the truth about Joe's revenue making
actions, but struggle to find evidence to prove their
case. Now they have a murder mystery that smells of
Donegan, who slyly manages to keep one step ahead of his
peers. Donegan steals this police procedural, as the veteran
team (in books too) seems to fail to stop this master
felon. The story line of CRIMINAL ELEMENT moves quickly
forward though Larry and Blackie appear hopeless and even
somewhat pathetic in their chase of Joe. Hugh Holton, who
recently past away, provides fans of his Chicago police
procedural series with a pleasurable entry though the
villain owns the novel. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 18, 2002
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