Broken Places by Tracy Clark is the first book in the NEW Chicago” mystery series featuring Cass Raines, private investigator. Publisher: Kensington Publishing, coming May 29, 2018

Former cop Cass Raines has found the world of private investigation a less stressful way to eke out a living in the Windy City. But when she stumbles across the dead body of a respected member of the community, it’s up to her to prove a murderer is on the loose . . .

Cops can make mistakes, even when they’re not rookies. If anyone knows that it’s Cass Raines, who took a bullet two years ago after an incompetent colleague screwed up a tense confrontation with an armed suspect. Deeply traumatized by the incident, Cass resigned from the Chicago PD, leaving one less female African-American on the force. Now she’s the head of a one-woman private investigation agency, taking on just enough work to pay the bills. She spends the rest of her time keeping an eye on the tenants in her little Hyde Park apartment building, biking along the lakefront, and playing chess with the only father figure she’s ever known, Father Ray Heaton.

When Father Ray asks Cass to look into a recent spate of vandalism at his church, she readily agrees to handle the case. But only hours later she’s horrified to discover his murdered body in the church confessional, a dead gangbanger sprawled out nearby. She knew Pop, as she called him, had ticked off plenty of people, from slumlords to drug dealers and even some parishioners and politicians, with his uncompromising defense of the downtrodden. But a late-night random theft doesn’t seem like much of a motive at a cash-strapped parish like Saint Brendan’s.

The lead detective assigned to the case is all too ready to dismiss it as an interrupted burglary gone awry, just another statistic in a violent city. But Cass’s instincts tell her otherwise, and badge or no badge, she intends to see justice done . . .

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This fast-paced, action-packed drama pulled me in immediately, especially the opening scenes where I had to know what was going to happen next. The outcome of that intense situation spurs the consequences of where it takes our heroine in this forthcoming novel. I like Cass Raines and the author portrays her in a way that makes me feel sorry for her, but also, I want to tell her to buck up and do what you have to do to survive, make it on your own and enjoy what life has to offer. Hard when one runs a one-woman private investigation firm and take on a personal case when her beloved priest is murdered. Taking on her arch enemy, we watch Cass traverse the line between being an ex-cop having to tow the line and not having to tow the line and that’s where this riveting drama takes hold and I’m along for a grippingly wonderful ride that I did not want to get off.

The author does a great job in the development of this multi-faceted tome and the main characters. She gives us just enough to set the stage in this well-written mystery with visually descriptive narrative that put me in the middle of all the action. The past seems to converge on the present and that gave this intensifying and intriguing tale enough meat to keep me enthralled as I had to know how this will end. With plenty of potential suspects, it was the clues that the author planted that kept me following along with Cass as the closer she got, the more involved I’ve became as the reader, and when the pieces fell into place, there was only one person left standing. What a great book and I look forward to more exploits with Cass and her circle of friends.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.