A Good Killing, Allison Leotta
Fast Facts
- A Good Killing is the fourth installment in an insanely addictive series
- Law of Attraction is the debut Anna Curtis novel, is a riveting introduction to Anna and her job as a domestic violence and sex crimes prosecutor
- Discretion, probably tied with A Good Killing for my favorite, involving politicians, murder and a high-end prostitution ring - who can resist?
- Speak of the Devil, in which Anna hangs out with cool FBI agents and both humanizes and takes down the scary MS-13 gang
- You don't have to have read the first three books to get started on this one, but you do have to read the first three books, because they're fantastic
- Anna Curtis takes a leave of absence from her prosecutor job in DC to defend her younger sister from a murder charge in her Michigan hometown
- Put on Chicago's Cell Block Tango "He Had it Comin'" as your accompanying reading soundtrack
Background
Christmas only comes once a year - and for the past four years, my personal Christmas has come when Allison Leotta's new book is finally published and hits my Kindle shelf. I interned for Ali at the U.S. Attorney's Office sex crimes and domestic violence unit - it was my first legal job, when I was in college. She was a terrific attorney to watch in action - when she spoke, you could hear a pin drop in the courtroom - just a really compassionate, effective advocate. And now, she's also the bestselling author of a series of awesome legal crime thrillers. (If only being your personal superhero's intern could be a permanent job - I would wheel around her lit bag for eternity!)
The protagonist in this series is Anna Curtis, a sex crimes prosecutor in DC who's terrific at her job, blond and beautiful, and in the business of having adventures and misadventures as she takes on big cases and has sexy affairs.
Murder in Detroit and Michigan's Unhealthy Obsession with Football
(Yes, I know - it sounds like nonfiction to me, too.)
In this installment, after some heartbreak and in response to a well-timed phone call, Anna returns from DC to her Michigan hometown to defend her sister against a charge that she's murdered the town's beloved high school football coach.
The novel is driven forward like a high-speed train by terrific pacing; a point-of-view shift between Anna and her sister Jody; the overarching mystery of whether Jody did it, and if so, will she get away with it; and the ever-important question - is Anna going to hook up with the sexiest war veteran-turned-urban farmer in literature?
As a Midwesterner who moved to the big city, I can relate to some of the attitude Anna gets when she comes home; her fleeting feeling of not quite belonging in either place; and her nostalgia and hope for a down-and-out community, rebuilding itself Brooklyn-style.
I was also engaged by Anna as she first seems to truly question the establishment and the judicial system in perhaps a surprising way, given her chosen life's work. Part of working within the system means inherently believing that the system is fundamentally good, fundamentally helpful, fundamentally protective of those in the right and punishing of those in the wrong.
But of course, human beings, their actions and their bureaucracies are often not so easily categorized, and some flexibility is both necessary and idealistic. It would be nice to see that kind of flexibility exist more frequently in reality, and not just in highly entertaining fiction.
So Good, I Wish She'd Write Even Faster!!
As with the first three books, I was completely hooked within the first few pages - wishing my commute was longer, wishing I'd taken a sick day from work to book-binge, and completely ignoring my husband and abdicating all household chores till I was done. ("Why don't you savor it?" Ronny asked. A thinly-veiled and ultimately futile plea to do the dishes.)
I've wondered after each book - am I going to get tired of Anna? Given some unfinished business in A Good Killing, and my (typical) eagerness to get the new installment immediately, the answer is decidedly no.
