police procedural

Long Bright River

By Moore, Liz

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Apr 9, 2020

The Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia is ravaged by the opioid epidemic. One sister, Mickey Fitzpatrick, patrols the streets as a police officer. The other sister, Kacey Fitzpatrick, works the streets and succumbs to addiction at an early age. The sisters keep their distance from one another now. Their relationship is strained but each hopes a reunion is right around the corner, just as soon as Kacey can get clean.  

Mickey narrates her harrowing and heartbreaking life in "Now" and "Then" chapters that unveil the slow, never ending battle against addiction as she watches her sister and

Persons Unknown

By Steiner, Susie

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Feb 21, 2020

Persons Unknown is the second police procedural following Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw, following up Missing, Presumed. Manon's character is growing and changing throughout. She is five months pregnant at the start. And she has adopted Fly Dent, a quiet teenager whose family died in the previous book. Looking for a change of pace in their hectic life and a better quality of friends for Fly, they move from London to Cambridgeshire with Manon's sister, Ellie, and her toddler son, Solly. Life is moving along well for them until a murder investigation throws everything into chaos. 

Jon

The Late Show

By Michael Connelly
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Hilary S.
Sep 9, 2017

Renée Ballard works the overnight shift at LA's  Hollywood station aka The Late Show. Cops on this shift don't get to follow their cases - they respond to calls, get information and start the paperwork for the daytime crews to take over. This is why it's considered a punishment for cops that have screwed up in some way. It's rather unfulfilling, and Ballard struggles against this - she's a good cop, and wants to finish a case. She finds a way to keep working on all three of the cases she gets a call out on. One of the cases is a credit card theft that seems pretty straight forward, another is

The Trespasser

By Tana French
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Hilary S.
Mar 23, 2017

An anonymous call comes in to the Stonybatter police station, instead of the emergency line in Dublin. The caller says that a woman may have fallen and hurt inside her own home. When police arrive, all the doors are locked and they find Aislinn Murray dead, but not from a fall. The case gets passed on to the Murder Squad. Detectives Conway and Moran have the case handed to them by their boss, just as they are looking to clock out and go home. Antoinette Conway is the only woman on the squad, and isn't well liked, she's brusque, confrontational, and keeps to herself. She's immediately

The Trespasser

By French, Tana

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Nov 23, 2016

An open-and-shut domestic murder case turns out to be much more than Antionette Conway or Stephan Moran bargained for when assigned Aislinn Murray’s case. Beautiful Aislinn is found dead in her perfectly decorated home, alone, with the doors locked. Her boyfriend Rory Fallon has a dinner date at Aislinn’s that night but she never answers the door or his many calls.

Each of French's books revolve around a different detective in the Dublin Murder Squad. The Trespasser is told from Conway’s point-of-view. As the only woman, and therefore an outsider in the squad room, it is hard to gain respect

When a Secret Kills

By Lynette Eason
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Sep 19, 2014

In the conclusion of the Deadly Reunion series, investigative reporter Jillian Carter has decided it is finally time to come out of hiding and return home after 10 years on the run.  On the night of her high school graduation Jillian witnessed a murder committed by her boyfriend's uncle who just happens to be a state senator.  Knowing that she was next on the senator's hit list she ran and has been in hiding ever since.  Jillian is exhausted from looking over her shoulder and frustrated by the stress of being hyper-viligant for all of this time knowing that the senator will never give up until

Mercy Killing by Stephen Solomita


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Apr 21, 2010

Mercy Killing by Stephen SolomitaSolomita has been writing hardboiled police procedurals for years. His character of the rogue cop Stanley Moodrow from “Forced Entry” and “Damaged Goods” has always stuck with me. His most recent book is another police procedural with a new main character, Lenny Shaw. Shaw is the detective in the investigation of the death of a coma patient who is cared for at home. The intricacies and expense of caring for the sick and the moral dilemmas presented are all sub plots in this thoughtful exposition on the end of a life. Was she murdered by her husband? Or was it another family member? I