Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi are at it again. Although not as riotously action-packed as some these duo have experienced at the able hands of Mssrs. Tanenbaum & Gruber, the plots and sub-plots keep your interest to the last page. Good fun!
Tanenbaum's Butch Karp series is one of the best in today's mystery fiction. A richly plotted, tough and funny crime series. I highly recomend it.
The three infant deaths in Manhattan in a week all share in common that an outsider found the abandoned corpse of an unwed mother. By the third death, the media leads a public frenzy seeking to lynch someone for the rash of infanticides. The police catch all three "monster moms". They turn out to be a fourteen year old African-American who thought she had a stomach ache, a sixteen year old Puerto Rican who claimed the child was caused by rape, and a white adult who seemed retarded. The obvious target of the New York County DA is sixteen year old Lourdes Bustamente, who appears to be the only one with premeditated causes. The case is assigned to Butch Karp to prosecute.
Meanwhile Butch's wife attorney Marlene Ciampi is thinking of retiring from her work of legally protecting battered women after a recent incident turned ugly. However, a case in Delaware to defend a woman accused of murdering her infant lures Marlene back into the courtroom.
Meanwhile Butch's wife attorney Marlene Ciampi is thinking of retiring from her work of legally protecting battered women after a recent incident turned ugly. However, a case in Delaware to defend a woman accused of murdering her infant lures Marlene back into the courtroom.
I was disappointed in this one. I really like Marlene's character and her husband Butch's too. However, her overly religious daughter Lucy, got on my ever-lovin nerves! I didn't really like the premise - throw-away babies. The book revolves around teens who dispose of their newborns in the garbage and the prosecution of said mothers. Both Marlene and Butch are trying cases (separate cases in separate states) and the cavalier attitude of everyone (lawyers, cops and defendants) towards these poor babies was deeply disturbing. I thought the ending was poorly done and was disappointed in the outcome of Marlene's case. Though I did like the way Butch handled his.
