Linda Fairstein has been called “the queen of intelligent suspense,” and is without question uniquely qualified to write a series featuring a female Assistant D.A. in New York whose area of expertise is sex crimes, having herself worked as the head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney‘s office from 1976 until 2002. I’m a big fan of the genre, so I was quite happy to receive Fairstein’s latest in the Alexandra Cooper series, Blood Oath, from Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley and write an honest review in return.
In this latest entry, #20 in the series, Alex/”Coop” has returned to work following the assassination of her boss, Manhattan DA Paul Battaglia, who was gunned down right in front of her (Deadfall, 2017). This happened right after she was kidnapped (Devil’s Bridge, 2015), so the series of events has let her somewhat traumatized.
In this latest thriller, Alex meets Lucy Jenner, a young woman in her twenties who has just been arrested in Brooklyn. When she is taken to the precinct, she completely freaks out when she sees a photo of the man she claims raped her years ago. The man is a member of the law enforcement team who handled Lucy’s case a decade earlier, and he is now on the verge of running for DA….oh, and Alex has considered that same path, just to complicate things.
Alex’s lover, NYPD Detective Mike Chapman works with her when he isn’t busy with another (possibly related?) case involving the murder of one o Alex’s good friends. Mike and Alex learn that Lucy has a history of lying, so while Alex really wants to believe her, there is a big question of trust.
Overall, it’s a good read and sure to be popular with Fairstein fans. TBH, I find myself conflicted in the same way that some fans of Michael Jackson’s music are struggling as more stories about his personal life have come out: how to separate the artist from the art? Can the listener/reader get past the negative perception of the singer/author and just enjoy the music/book? Fairstein’s actions in an investigation into the actions of Harvey Weinstein haven’t gotten the level of publicity as Jackson’s actions, but the stories have been enough to bother me. In the end, I can separate things enough to say I enjoyed this book a lot, although I confess I am a bit less likely to spend my own money to buy Fairstein’s books in the future. Four stars.