Everyone Dies
 Michael McGarrity
 (Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
 2003 Dutton/Penguin USA
 ISBN: 0525947612

Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney is on leave when a prominent gay attorney is gunned down.

Kevin had known & liked the man, & no one can find a reason for the murder -- his sexual preference seems not to have stirred up an enemy, he was not robbed or abused & his partner is not a suspect. Why was this well-liked citizen killed in broad daylight?

Kevin Kerney & his wife, Lt. Col. Sara Brannon are awaiting the imminent birth of their first child. Both being workaholics they are finding the waiting & the being on leave a bit of a strain. They have some unresolved issues: Sara is not particularly interested in domesticity, & has the opportunity for a tour of duty in security planning at the Pentagon, & Kevin can't seem to stay away from business, especially as this rash of new killings seem to have no motive.

Then Kevin discovers his proud mustang has been killed out on the homestead he is having built. When Sara almost trips over a dead wild rat that shouldn't have been in that territory, it becomes obvious that he, or they, are the killer's target.

Which doesn't sit well with either bride or groom, because he's worried about his wife's condition & the safety of their unborn child; & being a damsel in distress doesn't sit well with her training.

Kevin Kerney cannot remember any suspect in any previous case who would arouse such venomous revenge, & when the notes are left at the crime scenes, the hunt is on, turning hunted into hunter & hunter into prey.

A little slow, a little predictable yet quite an interesting read.

Having been a deputy sheriff, Michael McGarrity knows of what he writes. If you haven't read other Kevin Kerney thrillers, it does make a difference & that's easily remedied starting with:
Tularosa
Mexican Hat
Serpent Gate
Hermit's Peak
The Judas Judge
Under the color of Law
The Big Gamble
(09/21/03)

Rebecca