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The Intersection of Law and Desire: A Mystery

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The Intersection of Law and Desire
This is a hefty book. I liked the weight of it before I even read the first page. When I finished it, I found that it had another kind of weight. I like books that have a lot going on in them, and this one is very busy. There's the plot: it's involved and twisty and dark, just like a good private detective novel should be. There's the setting: New Orleans, with all its seaminess and hints of things beneath the surface. There's the protagonist: Micky Knight, a character with things of her own stirring under the surface of toughness and independence. There's enough action to get the reader immersed and turning the pages. Oh, and there's a great ending, for those of us resigned to novels that somehow let us down in the final pages.
And there's the author: this is the best thing going on in this book. J.M. Redmann does not disappoint. She writes with great skill and it was a delight to relax and just read this book, knowing after the first pages that all of it, the plot, the setting, the characters, were in good hands. I didn't have to be distracted, wondering when I would first be let down, looking for the first hole, because there isn't one. This book does everything it sets out to do. Because the writer did such a good job, I could do mine, and simply enjoy reading.
Micky Knight is everything you expect from a "hard boiled" private eye. She has a world-weary cynicism, an idealism that balances against it, a hard past she'd like not to intrude upon her present, she has courage and determination, and a fear that what she does is never enough. She has a girlfriend too, a doctor who has more money, more family, more innocence, more of all the things that Micky doesn't have. Micky lives alone in a cheap apartment with a cat. She and Cordelia have exchanged keys and begun to mingle their friends together, but a lifetime of feeling like an outsider makes Micky wary of her own feelings.
Two cases present themselves and get intertwined. One involves Cordelia's cousin, and Micky reluctantly takes it on. One involves the children of a friend. It could be that Micky crosses the line in both these cases, gets too involved, when she might have walked away. When they become entangled, it could be that the complications are convenient for Micky, pulling her away from Cordelia until they are on the verge of splitting up. In an effort to save Cordelia's cousin Karen from herself, and to save the child Cissy, Micky goes undercover and very far into an underworld of drugs, prostitution, pornography, and also finds that all of her problems, the ones with her girlfriend, the ones with the criminal elements, are impacted by her past, complicated by her own confused desires.
I like this woman. She confronts people about issues that most would choose to ignore. She has a fine anger that simmers and sometimes boils over. Micky has a right to anger. Other emotions are less comfortable. She hasn't learned them yet. Her anger drives her to try to save at least those she knows from the kind of harm she has personally experienced. She knows the lasting effects, but knowing doesn't mean she has escaped them herself. Anger fuels her compassion, pushes her toward danger, wrecks her relationships, and finally rescues her from guilt and shame. Anger is a cleansing, simplifying emotion, not murky and fluid like love, which in Micky's mind is a changeable thing, slippery, unwieldy, bound to disappoint and betray.
From seedy, unsettling, dangerous bars where drugs and much worse are peddled, to the ultimate private clubs where essentially the same transactions occur, from her confused past to an even more confusing present where events happen at a terrifying speed, Micky Knight goes on a ride around New Orleans and winds up at an interesting place. Not everyone can be saved. Justice is not always served. But sometimes, just making the trip is enough.
This novel is a good trip to take. It has action, it has atmosphere, it has finely drawn and diverse characters, it has depth and style and it is polished and smooth.

Micky Knight is one of the best new characters around in the hard-boiled mystery genre. This book was a great read, with a cast of characters that truly come to life. Once you read it, you'll be waiting for the next Micky Knight adventure to begin.

J.M. Redmann has four mysteries to her credit, all dealing with private detective Micky Knight, a New Orleans private eye. Her previous titles are: DEATH BY THE REVIERSIDE, DEATHS OF JOCASTA, and LOST DAUGHTER.

Micky (Michelle) Knight is a private eye, having arrived at that occupation through a series of tough life experiences. Micky is strong and beautiful, but is also vulnerable and sensitive, which makes her the perfect savior for abused children. When her friend's daughter, Cissy, stops smiling and begins having nightmares, Micky is suspicious. Patrick, Cissy's brother, tries to hire Micky with his paper money to find out who murdered little Judy Douglas, a classmate of Cissy's. Simultaneously Micky is working on a case with Karen, a cousin of Micky's girlfriend Cordelia, extricating her from a money lending scheme that stinks to high heaven. Is there a connection between the two cases? "'Someone invests fifty thousand dollars and a month later gets seventy thousand back. Wouldn't that make you curious?

Bill let out a low whistle, then nodded. 'Could it be legit?' I asked. 'Only if I could be the Pope, and I'm Jewish. Drugs, most likely. How did you hear about his?'

In the midst of Micky's own demons haunting her from her hellish past, she manages to not only piece together the puzzle of a grand pornography ring, but also works through her own problems by getting involved with a child psychologist with a penchant for sex, and by actually infiltrating the crime ring. Luckily, she enlists the help of the local police in her adventures. She is working solo, everyone is angry with her, and she is feeling very alone. But she ends up the heroine, after taking on a gang of thugs and saving the day for the women she loves the most.

J.M. Redmann is one heck of a writer. This tale is so gripping that the pages can't turn fast enough. Emotions are taut through most of the novel, and Redmann continually ratchets the action to a higher level. Character development is pivotal, and the plot has lots of twists. New Orleans jumps to life, as does the pain of child abuse, the loneliness of the gay lifestyle. Great!

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Another terrific Mickey Knight adventure. I enjoyed the plot of "Jocasta" a bit better, but this was still a full, satisfying read. That is what makes the books so good - they have a meaty plot and substance. Too many 'tec stories rely a bit much on coincidence and thin plots.

J. M. Redmann pulls you right in with her intensity. She handles difficult subjects, with grace, and sometimes painful honesty. I'm waiting not so patiently for the next Mickey Knight mystery!!

Once again Ms. Redmann has out done herself. Micky takes us on a great ride. The twists and turns of her life are entertaining and thought provoking. This book is a great read and I couldn't put it down until I finished it at 2am! You won't be sorry you bought it but it helps to read the first two in the series.

This Micky Knight mystery/romance is just sooo good you wont be able to put it down. I kept telling myself that one more page wont hurt and ended up reading till 4 am. Both romance and mystery kept my mind occupied.