Product Description

For thirty-five years the identity of the dismembered woman found under the Las Piernas pier has remained a mystery. What secret did she take to her grave? Southern California reporter Irene Kelly has uncovered a maze of forensic records and confidential files that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined. The discovery has brought her close to Detective Frank Harriman, and closer still to exposing a killer who will resort to anything to keep his secrets buried -- and Irene silenced forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76433 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Set in the fictional Southern California town of Las Piernas, this generally exciting debut mystery--the first of a projected series--brims with brutality, but is slowed at times by home and hospital bedside scenes. Former reporter Irene Kelly, now working in public relations, is shocked when her friend O'Connor is killed by a bomb hidden in a package. The only clue Irene can unearth is O'Connor's obsession with a long-unsolved crime involving an unidentified female body discovered in Las Piernas years before. Rehired by the Las Piernas Express , Irene teams up with ex-lover and homicide cop Frank Harriman to crack the case, but details of what O'Connor had learned about the killing are long in coming. Burke punctuates her too leisurely exposition with graphic, effective scenes of murder and attempted murder, although she depicts the menacing assassins more as machines than as human beings and provides a plausible explanation for all the violence only at her story's very end. Still, she writes with remarkable sensitivity about the physical and spiritual reactions of people terrorized by cold-blooded killers, and her gift for characterization somewhat compensates for her still-rudimentary pacing skills.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The bombing death of best friend and journalist O'Connor shocks Irene Kelly, herself an investigative reporter, into pursuing his last story--the as-yet-unsolved mutilation murder of a young woman back in 1955. Kelly collaborates with former flame Detective Harriman in her desire to identify the woman, but not without experiencing murder attempts, car chases, and a return of affection. Level-headed and unflappable, heroine Irene stands poised for a promising new series, despite the guessable villain and a lapse or two in dialog.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Jan Burke is the recipient of the Edgar Award, the Macavity Award, the Agatha Award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Tim, and her two dogs.

Customer Reviews

Irene's a Winner!
Back in 1955, a young woman was found murdered on the beach in Las Piernas, California. Her face was destroyed and her hands and feet cut off so that she couldn't be identified. The police dubbed her Hannah and were never able to close the case. Newspaperman, O'Connor wrote the original stories back then and has never given up on finding the identity of this Jane Doe. Every year, on the anniversary of her murder, he writes his now famous "Hannah" column. But not this year. Several days before his annual article will come out, O'Connor is killed on his front porch by a package bomb. Now his dearest friend and protege, Irene Kelly, is on a mission to find out why. As she and the police begin to investigate, going back over O'Connor's notes and files, it seems he was just about ready to break this very old case wide open and pretty soon Irene finds out first hand that there are people who will stop at nothing to keep those secrets buried forever..... Jan Burke has written a terrific, well paced debut mystery, easily read in one sitting, full of vivid scenes and enough twists and turns to keep you off balance and guessing to the end. Her writing is down to earth, her characters, real and her dialogue, very true to life. This is the start of a terrific, fun series and once you've met Irene, you'll want to read them all.

A Knockout Debut!
If my review prompts just one person to check out this new series, I will be happy indeed. In this first book, Irene Kelly goes back to her old job as reporter after the bombing murder of O'Connor, her best friend and former mentor at the newspaper. It seems that O'Connor had been about to make a breakthrough on a thirty-five year old case of an unidentified murder victim. The victim was a young, pregnant woman. Her hands and feet had been cut off and her face smashed to prevent identification. When Irene and Frank Harriman of the Las Piernas police become involved in the case, bodies start piling up too fast to keep count. Ms Burke's theme seems to be that past misdeeds will always come back to haunt us. This is a theme that also echoes through her work in later books. If you're a mystery fan, you definitely should check out this new series. It's well written, with fine character development, and intelligent plotting. I highly recommend it.

hello Irene!
Great mystery! Picked it up secondhand, but am now rushing to buy all the rest. Lots of intrigue, and for once I didn't guess "whodunit" halfway through. Like Cornwell and Hillerman, Jan Burke has constructed a believable main protagonist with a well-rounded background--she's not just a puppet in service to the case at hand. Lots of intrigue, but not as hard-edged, as say, Cornwell's books. I'm looking forward to following her through other mysteries. If you're a fan of the genre, I'll bet you'll get hooked on Irene too!