Fiction Pick of the Week: In the Guise of Mercy

In the Guise of Mercy by Wendy Hornsby 2009

Maggie MacGowen, documentary filmmaker/sleuth agrees to take on a 10-year-old cold case that her late husband, LAPD Detective , Mike Flint, was not able to solve. Jesus Ramon was a young gang member and a police informant who went missing in 1999 when he left Mike’s car to meet up with his aunt. Mike left Maggie his old files and contacts for the case. One of the original witnesses, Nelda Ruiz has just been paroled, and Mike had hoped to speak with her to try and get more information.

Mike’s former colleagues are eager to help but warn Maggie to “watch six” (watch her back). Whenever Maggie tries to connect the Ramon case with the death of a well-known drug king, she is told not to go there as her life will be in danger. As Maggie continues to find connections, she finds out about a vigilante group of cops that were operating during that period. Once Maggie discovers this, her life is in danger and she narrowly escapes. This fast-paced mystery has many twists and turns in a complex plot. The author covers gangs, barrios, the homeless, cops and filmmaking in spinning this mystery.