The Judas Judge (Kevin Kerney Novels) (Paperback)

by Michael McGarrity (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A new Kevin Kerney mystery is a bright spot in any publishing season, and in McGarrity's fifth book in the series, he brings Kerney back home to southern New Mexico on the trail of a spree killer who's murdered six victims at remote campgrounds. But something in the crime pattern tells Kerney these murders aren't as random as they first appear. Instead, they seem to be senseless killings meant to cover up the last one, a very personal crime involving family secrets hidden for generations. It's supposed to be the last case for Kerney, whose unexpected inheritance of a vast tract of prime ranchland and recent marriage to a career army officer (Hermit's Peak, Serpent Gate) have him putting in for early retirement from the police force. And it's all mixed up with a stalker seeking revenge on Kerney for his part in an Internal Affairs investigation that got a cop kicked off the force and led to a deadly gunfight that still haunts Kerney.

This is a solid bull's-eye for McGarrity. It leaves the reader hungry for his next, in which presumably Kerney will rethink his retirement plans as he copes with impending fatherhood and the kind of financial freedom most lawmen never experience. What makes this series work is not only its likable hero but also the brilliant evocation of the American Southwest he calls home. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
McGarrity's novels keep getting richer as they change focus slightly with each new publisher. This novel, the fifth in the series, is the first to be issued by Dutton, McGarrity's third publisher; it's also the most personal book of the series, with Kerney, Deputy Chief of the New Mexico State Police, now married to career U.S. Army officer Lt. Col. Sara Brannon and about to become a millionaire by selling the huge tract of land he inherited in Hermit's Peak (1999) to the Nature Conservancy. The story opens with a slam-bang scene in which Kerney is forced to shoot a crooked cop. The theme recurs, but the meat of the novel involves the murders of six people in quick succession. The police at first think they're "spree" killings, but Kerney soon identifies the last crime as different and its victim, a retired district court judge, as the real target. Most of the action focuses on Kerney's methodical and excruciatingly detailed police work, as well as on his spot-on intuitive hunches. Although this volume moves a little slower than the previous four, it still rivets attentionAnot with shoot-'em-ups and car chases, but by gradually uncovering secrets hidden by a large cast of well-drawn suspects, with McGarrity serving up enough red herrings to sate the population of Stockholm. It's the discovery of the murderer's means, opportunity and psychological make-up that makes this such a difficult caseAand a book that's hard to put down. (July)
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