Under the Color of Law (Kevin Kerney)
Popular cop Kevin Kerney acquires new depth and substance in  this sixth installment in McGarrity's solid series. In his  previous job as deputy chief of the state police, Kerney killed  a cop gone bad. Now he is settling into his new job as police  chief of Santa Fe, N.Mex., and his new subordinates are of two  minds whether they should trust him or not. They have ample  opportunity to observe him in action, because as the book opens,  Phyllis Terrell, the estranged wife of an ambassador and  ex-military honcho, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of  her hilltop mansion, and Father Joseph Mitchell, an ex-soldier  turned priest researching the government's covert operations,  turns up dead in the Christian Brothers Residence at the College  of Santa Fe. The police investigation has barely begun before  evil Feds, who dismiss Kerney as merely "an over-the-hill  lightweight cop who occasionally got lucky," move in and start  sanitizing the crime scenes. The chief keeps digging on the sly,  of course, as every possible witness ends up dead. McGarrity  (Tularosa; The Judas Judge; etc.) writes well, with chapters  that march the reader along, and is very convincing on  procedural matters his credentials include a stint as deputy  sheriff for Santa Fe County. Unfortunately, when he moves into  action movie territory, the material does not seem natural for  him, and in particular the main antagonist a human killing  machine never comes off as anything more than an image taken  from film. The strengths of this book are in the quiet moments,  the procedural detail, the local scene and Kerney's reflections  on his history and his future. (July 9)Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.