Homicide 69.Homicide 69 Sam Reaves Carroll & Graf c/o Avalon Publishing Group 245 W. 17th St., 11th fl., NY, NY 10011-5300 0786718122 $26.95 www.avalonpub.com 800-788-3123 On a rainy day in 1969 Chicago, homicide detective Mike Dooley, along with his partner, Pete Olson, are called to the scene of a murder. They find the naked body of a woman who had been badly beaten, burned, hog-tied, strangled stran·gle v. stran·gled, stran·gling, stran·gles v.tr. 1. a. To kill by squeezing the throat so as to choke or suffocate; throttle. b. , and left along the riverbank. A veteran who'd served in the Pacific in WWII WWII abbr. World War II WWII World War Two , Dooley now worries about his son, serving in Vietnam. The era of the Black Panthers Black Panthers, U.S. African-American militant party, founded (1966) in Oakland, Calif., by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. Originally espousing violent revolution as the only means of achieving black liberation, the Black Panthers called on African Americans to arm , Woodstock, the aftermath of the 1968 riots, the Manson murders and the first moon landing is brought vividly to life and perfectly recreated. The investigation into the girl's death discloses that she was a former Playboy bunny A Playboy Bunny was a waitress at the Playboy Clubs (open 1960–1988). They wore a costume called a bunny suit inspired by the tuxedo-wearing Playboy rabbit mascot, consisting of a corset, bunny ears, a collar, cuffs, and a fluffy cottontail. and mobster's girlfriend, and leads to the possibility of Mafia connections and, this being late '60's Chicago, political corruption In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse by government officials of their governmental powers for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, like repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political . The corruption takes place on all levels, of course. In interviewing an employee at a local bar, these exchanges take place: "We're not exactly fond of cops around here." "And why is that?" Dooley said, knowing the answer ... "Well, let's see Let's See was a Canadian television series broadcast on CBC Television between September 6, 1952 to July 4, 1953. The segment, which had a running time of 15 minutes, was a puppet show with a character named Uncle Chichimus (voice of John Conway), which presented each . It might be the payoffs. Yeah, I'd say that's it. It's the bag full of money we have to give your colleagues every month ... I'm a skeptic, that's all. People with more experience than me have told me it's kind of hard to tell the difference between the cops and the mob sometimes." Interspersed with the police work are scenes of Mike's domestic life, typical of a household with sullen teenagers and the tension normal when one child is fighting a war overseas, an unpopular war with an uncertain outcome, with constant fear for those at home waiting. The book is well crafted. Dooley is a good cop and a very human protagonist. The investigation is realistically portrayed, with relentless routines and gradual progress. And of course other crimes take place that must be dealt with as well. This is a long book, but it never feels padded. It has a mostly unexpected conclusion but one that makes perfect sense. Homicide 69 is a terrific novel, very well-written, and is recommended. The book jacket Noun 1. book jacket - a paper jacket for a book; a jacket on which promotional information is usually printed dust cover, dust jacket, dust wrapper jacket - an outer wrapping or casing; "phonograph records were sold in cardboard jackets" reads A Dooley Crime Novel, and one can therefore hope that it is the beginning of a series. |
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