A Rage of Innocents (A Chief Inspector Morrissey Mystery) - Softcover

A fifth excursion to Englands Malminster township, the grungy turf of Chief Inspector John Morrissey and his Detective-Sergeant Neil Barrett (A Portion for Foxes, 1995 etc.). Once again, the two are facing some knotty problems. The desiccated remains of a pregnant woman have been found in a drainage ditchmurder, says the coroners report. The corpse is eventually identified by Lucy Walton as street waif Mandy Sheard. Feisty, pregnant, 16-year-old Lucy is off the streets now, doing menial work at The Cedars, a maternity nursing home run by the icy Diane Carpenter and connected to Father Donnellys shelter at St. Ursalas church. Then comes the rape of Kim Fittona crime thats just a blip in the vicious life of drifter/odd-job worker Darren Minter, who lives rough in his old white van with the cowering, feckless Skeeter, half admiring (and half scared-to-death of) his savage companion. More compelling for Morrissey than these and other nefarious doings is the botched police action after the rape, a failure that results in rioting, vandalism, and a personal catastrophe that leaves Barrett by himself to track the rapist and nail Mandys killer. Both of which he does, uncovering a scam along the way. The tale is told in short takes that move swiftly from scene to scene, and from character to character, with high-level suspense that eases only when the scene turns to the petty rivalries at Police Headquarters. Another winner from one of the genres best. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In this disjointed entry in the Chief Inspector Morrissey series (following A Portion for Foxes, 1995), the constabulary of Malminster is faced with a brutal rape, the corpse of a pregnant girl found in a ditch and civil unrest in the local Asian community. The opening focus is on homeless and pregnant teenager Lucy Walton, who is picked up by the police and taken to St. Ursula's Women's Shelter. From there, Father Donnelly takes her to a clinic for wealthy expectant mothers, where she sullenly agrees to do light housework for room and board. Interspersed are chapters following the criminal antics of hooligans Darren and Skeeter as well as the ethnic unrest that leaves Morrissey's young son, Mike, seriously injured. Dogged police work on both the rape case and the murder of the young woman, as well as the suspicious death of Father Donnelly, leads Morrissey and his crew toward a solution but also endangers Lucy's life. Despite the engrossing finale, this is a disappointing tale, its parts never quite coalescing into a convincing whole.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.