‘Silent Mercy’ By Linda Fairstein

Published by Little Brown,

March 2011. ISBN: 978-1-4087-0241-3

This latest thriller featuring Assistant DA Alex Cooper and NYPD Detective Mike Chapman opens with the discovery of a headless body on the steps of a church in New York. Within days a second body turns up also left at a church, and not just any church, it is clear that the killer is making a particular point

To try and get in the mind of the killer Alex and Mike explore various religious beliefs trying to get a handle on the message being left by the killer.  With Mike being Catholic and Alex of Jewish decent there are many interesting discussions. Tackling a religion is never an easy subject but Linda does it in an interesting and non confrontational way

As with all the books in this acclaimed series Linda’s research is meticulous and we learn much about the history of New York landmarks. In this book we learn of the many churches in the city and in particular the Church of St John the Devine –the largest cathedral in the world.

Mercer Wallace completes the trio of pursuers of justice which take them to a stunning climax on Cape Cod.

A marvellous entry in this excellent series.

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Lizzie Hayes

Linda Fairstein, former prosecutor and best-selling crime novelist, is one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. For three decades, from 1972 until 2002, she served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-five years. In that position, Ms. Fairstein supervised the investigation and trial of every Manhattan case involving sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse and homicides arising out of these crimes. She was the lead attorney and directed all major litigation in these specialties, ranging from the homicide prosecution of Robert Chambers (the “Preppy Murder” case) in 1988 through the trial against the offenders charged with the riot in Central Park following the Puerto Rican Day parade in June, 2000.

Fairstein is an honors graduate of Vassar College (1969) and the University of Virginia School of Law (1972). In 1998, several of Fairstein’s law school classmates established a scholarship fund in her honor at their alma mater. The Fairstein Public Service Scholarship supports law school students interested in pursuing careers in the public sector. Linda Fairstein is married to Justin Feldman. She lives in Manhattan and on Martha’s Vineyard.

Earlier books in the series are Final Jeopardy (1996) Likely To Die (1997) Cold Hit (1999) The Deadhouse (2001)  The Bone Vault (2003) The Kills (2004) Entombed (2005) Death Dance (2006) Bad Blood (2007) Killer Heat (2008) Lethal Legacy (2009) Hell Gate (2010)