City of Secrets - Margaret Nolan #4

 

City of Secrets is the fourth procedural mystery featuring Detective Margaret Nolan by P. J. Tracy. Released 20th Aug 2024 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

The author does a good job intertwining an intricate plot with several disparate threads into a whole, including high profile California business power movers, drugs, and murder. All the characters seemed to be either irredeemably awful/shallow/predatory or irretrievably broken and suffering from PTSD/addiction/psychological problems (or a combination of all of the above). It makes for an often uncomfortably voyeuristic read in places. There are some explicit darker sexual/sadism/non-mainstream plot elements; sensitive readers should be aware.

The chapters are told in alternating third person and it's not always immediately clear which character is being written about without close attention. There are some content warnings, including addiction, sexual abuse, and mentions of suicide (brief mentions). The author does an impressive job with strong female characters (protagonists and antagonists both). There are some scary and over the top mentions of mental illness which aren't very accurate, but otherwise it's a solid cinematically written thriller.

The mystery, resolution, and denouement are self contained in this volume, so it works fine as a standalone, with the codicil that there are developing relationships between the main and returning secondary characters. Readers reading the series out of order will encounter some spoilers for the earlier books. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 7 hours 51 minutes and is capably read by Abby Craden. She has a well modulated alto voice and does a competent job with a range of American, non-specific European (supposedly Spanish), and male and female characters. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four stars. It's a satisfying and well written somewhat gritty modern procedural. It's not at all derivative, but fans of Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, and Robert Crais will find a similar feel. (Especially to Connelly's Bosch books). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.