EVIL JUSTICE

A serial killer’s crime spree provides a template for a copycat.

Besides the wealthy family she’s rebelling against, sanitation supervisor Anna Winthrop has plenty of other problems. Her sister’s left her husband and moved in with Anna. Caitlin Whitelaw, the book’s version of Paris Hilton, is doing community service at the garage. To top it off, Shari Baird, the most disliked and disruptive member of her crew, is found dead in a courtyard at the garage. It looks as if Shari, who’s been strangled, with an Ankh sign carved in her chest, is the latest victim of the Ankh Killer who’s been bedeviling Manhattan. When the police ignore this obvious lead and arrest Tommy Mulligan, another of Anna’s crew who ran from the scene, Anna starts sleuthing. Certain Tommy is innocent, she investigates Shari’s lifestyle and finds some highly illegal and dangerous activities. Shari belonged to a group of urban explorers whose trips are a cover for burglary. She seduced and blackmailed men at will and was heavily involved with mobsters in a men’s club. Although confronting mobsters and tailing blackmailers is an obvious recipe for trouble, Anna doesn’t tell her policeman boyfriend Santos half the things she’s doing to try to clear Tommy. When Caitlin is stabbed to death before she can reveal a vital clue, Anna puts her life on the line to catch the killer.

Classy Anna’s second cozy (Death is Disposable, 2008, etc.) showcases Manhattan as it keeps you guessing.