Dark Blue Death is the second in Jan Grape’s Zoe Barrow mystery series. The first, Austin City Blue, came out in 2002. Dark Blue Death came out in 2005, but I didn’t get a copy until this summer when Jan and I were both mentors at the Heart of Texas Sisters in Crime Barbara Burnett Smith Aspiring Writers Event.In Dark Blue Death, Austin Police Office Zoe Barrow is assisting in new cadet training when one cadet is killed. Someone is out to kill APD officers with a high-powered rifle and Zoe is in the middle of the investigation. And if that’s not enough to keep her busy, her husband, a former member of the Austin SWAT team, disappears from the nursing home where he lives in a semi-vegetative state after being shot by gang members in a drive-by. On top of those two stressors, Zoe has to deal with her husband’s parents.
If you’re looking for a mystery that’s true to life, you can pick up Dark Blue Death. Grape has done her research on the Austin PD. She even starts each chapter with something related to the APD, from facts about the officers and budget of the agency to Frequently Asked Questions concerning the Citizen Police Academy to information about officers killed in the line of duty.
I'll check it out. I don't think I could tackle writing about the field of police work in a true gritty fashion. It's something that's always fascinated me but something I know absolutely nothing about.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I'll have to find it.
ReplyDeleteLike Stephanie, I don't have the time for the research involved in a police procedural, but I love reading them.
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
They do seem to take a lot of research. 'Course, that's true of any book. So I guess it depends on what you, the writer, like to research and write.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a book I'd like to read.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the review and recommendation. That title is certainly grabby, too.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Silly
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen. I've heard of Jan Grape but never read her books. But her series sounds like my type of read. And I always love learning while I read--since I write mysteries, it's good to learn about police procedure.
ReplyDeleteHi Conda. Jan Grape is well-known in the mystery community. She's also a sweet person.
ReplyDeleteWould someone please translate the above comment?
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're going to have a good title theme going with "blue." Also sounds like a very good series. I'm off to check out your books.
ReplyDelete