Suspect by Scott Turow

Clarice Granum known as Pinky is a thirty something free spirit who currently works for attorney Rik Dudek as a private investigator.  Pinky has made her share of misteps in life, from illegal drugs, to tattoos and facial piercings to failed relationships with members of both genders, to washing out of the police academy.  The only person who seems to understand her is her grandfather the renowned, Sandy Stern.  For Scott Turow fans, you will remember the now retired Sandy Stern as the attorney representing Rusty Savage in Presumed Innocent.

Rik’s latest defendant is Lucia Gomez, the female police chief of Highland Isle, near Kindle County.  The chief is accused by three male police officers of soliciting sex in exchange for promotions within the police department.  Gomez insists the accusations against her are part of an ugly smear campaign intent on destroying her career.  She suspects ‘The Ritz,’ a local drug dealer, real estate tycoon, underworld criminal and Gomez’ former patrol partner as the instigator of her problems.  But Pinky has to prove it.

Meanwhile an interesting man, Koob moves into the apartment next to Pinky and her natural investigator instincts can’t leave him alone.  He keeps to himself and has an odd schedule.  Pinky begins following him in her spare time and ultimately builds a relationship with him.  She finds he has a connection to The Ritz. 

Of the three witnesses against the chief, two are proven unreliable by Rik and the third is murdered.  Pinky is allowed in on the police investigation of the murder because of her work on the chief’s case and because she knows the lead detective from when they were in the academy together.  But her tenacity puts her in grave danger as they close in on the truth.

 I remember reading Presumed Innocent while on vacation in 1990.  I was so entranced I ignored family and friends until I finished the book.  I thought it ranked right up there with Grishams’s A Time to Kill.  While Suspect is no Presumed Innocent, it does hold your interest.  The Pinky character is not someone you’d expect from Scott Turow, but through in depth introspect written from Pinky's perspective, you grow to enjoy her quirks and eccentricities making her a great protagonist in a mystery novel.  

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance look.