Tragic
Simplify, simplify, simplify. After several books that came close to collapsing under their own unnecessary weight, Tanenbaum takes the Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi series back to basics, completely (finally!) ditching the distracting terrorism-themed story lines in favor of a meaty murder investigation and courtroom drama. A well-liked union organizer is dead, his murder arranged by a ruthless union boss (this isn’t a spoiler: the author tells us whodunit right up front). District attorney Karp and his wife, Marlene, slowly build a case against the culprit, but does his corrupt reach extend into the halls of justice? Drawing inspiration from such diverse sources as the Elia Kazan film On the Waterfront and Macbeth (the killer as usurper of the throne; the three witches as a trio of homeless women), the novel is tightly plotted and, overall, feels very much like the early installments in the series, before the author started wandering off on thematic tangents. Series fans should be very happy. --David Pitt