Thrown-Away Child: A Neil Hockaday Mystery

Neil Hockaday is back in this fifth book of the series. Detective Hockaday takes a vacation to New Orleans, the City that Care Forgot, to visit his in-laws, Ruby's family. Just as Hock gets settled in, a series of brutal murders begins, as money-hungry forces try to drive out poor, decent folk. As Ruby and Hock dig deeper, they find dirty cops, scheming politicans, and evil churchmen, and the roots of the mystery deal with a wrong done to Rudy's father many years ago. A thrown-away child is the main suspect to one of the murders, but Hock believes that he is only a convineat scapegoat. Great climax, as justice is finally done to some of have escaped it for years.

A mystery buff, I find the Edgar award a strong clue toward a satisfying writer. Thomas Adcock, a recent winner, fits that catagory to a T. "Thrown-Away Child" , his new book, is strong, violent and at the same time a probing story of the "lost boys" whose pain translates into much of the agony we see in our streets today (and in our prisons) With subtlety and insight, Adcock takes us to the heart of the family - Hockaday's newly acquired inlaws -who are New Orleans African-American; the "father of us all" - Joe Never Smile; and Neil's beloved mother-in-law ,Violet. The "Shamrock" Irish-American NYPD detective, Hockaday, finds himself working a murder in the center of New Orleans, tracing the terrorist group - MOMS (they brand their victims with those letters) , while gaining insight into himself and the racism which fuels the flames of our urban hells. "What's worse: living with a bad conscience, or knowing the peace of mind that comes from being hanged for what you done?" The dialogue is tasty. A joy of a book