Part of Butch Karp, book 12
First published 2001
District Attorney Butch Karp confronts a disturbing wave of infanticide cases in New York. Poor teenage mothers kill or abandon their newborns while a middle-class college couple faces first-degree murder charges after concealing a pregnancy. Meanwhile, his wife Marlene Ciampi, armed and formidable, works her own case involving the dead infant. Their teenage daughter Lucy proves more compelling than either parent. When her best friend's parents, the Maxwells, turn up murdered, Lucy doubts the obvious suspect, an African furniture restorer. Her investigation reveals the real killer, though readers will spot the solution early. Lucy's devout Catholic faith puzzles her lapsed Jewish father and conflicted mother. A Jesuit priest explains that Lucy carries spiritual burdens few her age understand. In earlier centuries, her talents and religious devotion would have led her to a convent with proper guidance. Instead, she navigates moral complexity alone. The courtroom drama takes second place to family bonds and ethical dilemmas that test each character's sense of justice.
Genres: mystery, crime, family-drama, legal-thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, moral-dilemma
Setting: New York
Period: Contemporary
464 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Pocket Books
Content warnings: child-death, murder