In the Guise of Mercy (A Maggie Macgowen Mystery) (Maggie Macgowen Mysteries) [Paperback]

Wendy Hornsby (Author)

Book Description

Series: Maggie Macgowen Mysteries | Publication Date: September 7, 2009

A decade has passed since Maggie MacGowen s last investigation in the pages of Hornsby s award-winning noir series. Gritty and streetwise, yet compassionate, these mysteries appeal to America s current fascination with realistic crime stories. Filmmaker Maggie MacGowen has taken on many tough assignments over the years. However, when she discovers a note from her newly dead husband, Detective Mike Flint, urging her her to take a fresh look at a decade-old unsolved case of a boy who went missing, she isn t sure that she s up to the challenge. But how does one say no to a dead man? Maggie seeks information from anyone who has a connection: a spoiled cop, an ex-con taxi dancer, the dead youth s gang set the hookers, the cons, the addicts, the homeless and the hopeless and the good and decent people among them who remain the foundation of a community always in transition, always under siege. The answers Maggie discovers aren t what she expects, nor is the sometimes deadly opposition from all sides. But she finds strength from her own resilience...and an acceptance of Mike s final decision.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Last seen in A Hard Light (1997), documentary filmmaker Maggie MacGowen struggles to honor the final request of her late husband, LAPD Det. Mike Flint, to solve a particularly frustrating cold case, in Edgar-winner Hornsby's sixth Maggie MacGowen mystery. Jesús Ramón, a young gang member who was one of Mike's informants, disappeared after leaving Mike's car in 1999. Despite Mike's best efforts, he was never able to determine what happened to Jesús. Inheriting Mike's personal files and using Mike's many friends as well as her own resources, Maggie treats this cold case as one of her own investigative reports. Though Mike's former colleagues appear eager to help, they also warn her to watch six (watch her back). Hornsby handles the diversity of cultures—gangs, barrios, homeless, cops, filmmaking—adeptly as Maggie's probing stirs up a toxic residue of unsolved killings that again proves fatal. It's good to see Maggie back in action. (Sept.)
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About the Author

Wendy Hornsby is the author of eight critically praised and award-winning mysteries, six of them about Maggie MacGowen. She is also a short story Edgar Award winner, and she lives in Southern California, where she is a professor of history at Long Beach City College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Perseverance Press (September 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564744825
• ISBN-13: 978-1564744821
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,217,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wendy Hornsby (1947 - ) is a native of Southern California, the setting for her nine mystery novels. Among the awards she has received for her work are the Edgar Allan Poe Award (the "Edgar") and its French equivalent le Grand Prix de litterature policiere, as well as nominations for the Anthony Award and the Prix Du Roman D'Adventures. While a NPR interviewer described the author as a "soft-spoken college professor," critics have described her work as "refreshing [and] real" (NY Times), "unusually poignant" (LA Times), and "powerful writing and... equally thought-provoking story" (Publisher's Weekly). The Cleveland Plain Dealer declared, "No mystery novelist since Raymond Chandler may have captured downtown Los Angeles as Hornsby does."

Hornsby lives in Long Beach CA, where she teaches history at a local college.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an absolute stand-out, October 27, 2009

By 

T. Baker (Idyllwild, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Guise of Mercy (A Maggie Macgowen Mystery) (Maggie Macgowen Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is the sixth and long-awaited Maggie MacGowen mystery and an absolute stand-out in the series.
The novel opens with a heartbreaking death and the onset of a quest.
Detective Mike Flint, Maggie's beloved husband and best friend has asked one final thing of her: to find a missing young man from a ten year old case and, in doing so, clear his name.
As Maggie doggedly proceeds to unravel the mystery of Jesus Ramon, her faith in and love for Mike is paramount. It is what draws her unerringly forward and keeps the reader deeply involved and feverishly turning pages. In fact, the novels in this series contain one of the great love stories in the genre: the devoted relationship between a hardened, experienced cop and a smart, juggernaut of an investigative TV journalist. In the Guise of Mercy is the story of how it ended, and then how it continued.
As Maggie searches for answers, Los Angeles is laid out in beautiful, almost poetic scenes. The reader travels to downtown LA with its nightcrawlers and homeless; abandoned buildings, Central Station, morgue, and after hours nightclubs; the city's potter's field and Little Tokyo. Throughout the course of the book, Maggie moves from the barrio to Malibu.
There are a number of first-rate mystery authors writing about Los Angeles, and I've read most of them. But none are as deeply moving in their descriptive prose as Wendy Hornsby. If you want a sense of LA, a hard city to understand, this is the book for you.
I loved this novel. What a treat to have Wendy Hornsby and Maggie MacGowen back!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YEAH -- She's Back, November 1, 2009

By 

Evanston Mystery Fan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In the Guise of Mercy (A Maggie Macgowen Mystery) (Maggie Macgowen Mysteries) (Paperback)

It has been a long wait for this author to return. TOO LONG. I have read all of Ms. Hornsby's mysteries and enjoyed them all. I was sorry to see her stop. She tells a good story, nicely paced, in a book that is appropriately sized for the material. May this be the start of many books to come.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars poignant amateur sleuth, September 4, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Guise of Mercy (A Maggie Macgowen Mystery) (Maggie Macgowen Mysteries) (Paperback)

On Monday documentary editor Maggie MacGowan's life changes forever because her beloved husband Los Angeles Police Detective Mike Flint killed himself rather than let cancer rot him to death. In his goodbye note to Maggie, Mike asks her to forgive him and to find out what happened to Jesus Ramon, a cold case that always haunted him.

A decade ago, Mike put the diminutive sixteen years old gangbanger drug dealing snitch in his car. When he drops the teen off, he disappears without a trace. Maggie begins to sleuth starting her inquiries with cops, gang members, drug dealers and users as she cannot say no to a dead man she loves. However, one person carefully observes her progress and when she begins to get close to the hidden secrets he conceals, he cuts her brake line.

Although one must wonder why Mike would knowingly endanger his surviving loved one instead of retiring and going out with one last glorious investigation as a civilian, fans will be hooked by this poignant amateur sleuth from the onset when Mike who lived life to the fullest and took charge of his life decides to take charge of his death too. Maggie understands why he committed suicide and honors his last wishes by investigating the disappearance of Jesus. Her inquiry is brilliantly done step by step though she makes missteps along the way. Wendy Hornsby makes an emotional case that the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness also by its denotation also includes the ability to choose death in this strong inspirational but mentally draining tale.

Harriet Klausner