And Grant You Peace (A Joe Burgess Mystery, Book 4)
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"...nailed the culture of a Portland cop...beautifully written, and suspensefully told." ~Mystery Lover, Verified Reviewer
When a boy raps on Detective Burgess's car window summoning him to a burning commercial building now serving as a mosque, Burgess rushes through the intensifying flames to rescue a screaming woman and her baby locked in a closet.
The young mother survives, but suffers traumatic muteness. Autopsy shows the infant was gravely ill, suggesting someone was trying to keep mother and child away from hospitals that might have asked questions.
Questioning suspicious' uncooperative refugees' members of a motorcycle gang' and shady businessmen' results in threats to Burgess's family, newly grown by two adopted children.
Burgess persists, certain that finding justice for the child and mute mother will solve everything, until a witnesses draws him and his team into a building . . . booby-trapped to explode.
"An incredible cast of characters and a plot that keeps you guessing to the very last page. Kate Flora is a master of the genre."~Skye Writer, Verified Reviewer
". . . the pace ramps up on page one and continues throughout the book. The side stories are so much to the richness of the tale. Wholeheartedly recommend." ~Verified Reviewer
THE JOE BURGESS MYSTERIES
Playing God
The Angel of Knowlton Park
Redemption
And Grant You Peace
Led Astray
A Child Shall Lead Them
A World of Deceit
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Flora's ponderous fourth Joe Burgess mystery (after 2012's Redemption), the Portland, Maine, detective's fuse is set off when someone torches the Somali community's mosque, trapping a young woman and her baby inside. As Burgess investigates Portland's notoriously reclusive Somali refugees, crises abound: the baby's body is almost stolen, the Somali translator is beaten, and the imam's son is shot. The pile-on of disasters sets the heart pounding, but there's little else to keep the reader engaged. The many detectives are so similar that they begin to blur together all are tough, cynical, and deeply bitter about being forced to respect criminals' rights. Portland's Muslim inhabitants, meanwhile, hate Americans, beat their female relatives, oppress women, fund terrorists, traffic in child sexual slavery, and secretly paint anti-Muslim slurs around the city to garner public sympathy. Indeed, Flora's portrayal of Somali Muslims is such a jumble of stereotypes that there's little to distinguish it from bad parody.
