Chris Culver

I was originally attracted to this inexpensive Kindle book by a negative review. The reviewer (amidst a hoard of positive reviews) had complained that since the protagonist was a Muslim cop, she had hoped to learn something about the law enforcement aspects of Sharia Law. Hmmm. Knowing that Sharia Law encompasses much more than anything related to law enforcement and that I was sure that an American cop would enforce American law regardless of his/her faith (with the exception perhaps of the show more theocratic-ally oriented evangelicals now hoping to dominate our lives.) So I immediately downloaded a copy to my Kindle (instant gratification is a wonderful thing.)

Detective Sergeant Ashraf Rashid works for the Prosecutor’s Office in Indianapolis. “I had been named after my father, although I hadn’t ever met him. He had been a history professor at the American University of Cairo, but one of his students shot and killed him before I was born. Apparently that kid's family took grades seriously. The remnants of my family immigrated to the US shortly after that.” When his niece dies under suspicious circumstances, his ex-partner, Olivia, invites him to tag along for the investigation. When the boy who was with her when she ostensibly died from drinking tainted blood (I kid you not, some kind of teenage vampire thing,) commits suicide by falling on a stake (the only way vampires can die, his suicide note explains,) and the homicide Lieutenant seemingly ignores obvious disconnects, Rasheed decides to investigate himself. Rashid is also going to law school. There a great scene where Rasheed is confronted by the professor, clearly a Kingfield type

Lots of stuff related to Muslim religious practices (can’t eat pancakes fried on the same griddle with bacon, not allowed to drink alcohol for non-medicinal use - he imbibes but rationalizes it’s medicinal because of the job-- different burial rights, etc.) Nothing that would alarm anyone familiar with Catholic transubstantiation (scary indeed) or Jewish burial and eating practices. All religions have really bizarre rituals. The one link to his faith with regard to law enforcment was “a calling deeply rooted in my identity. I may not have been a very good Muslim, but my religion called me to seek and foster justice. It’s a divine edict as stringent as any command in any faith. Nobody gets a pass, least of all somebody who hurt my niece.”

My one reservation with this book has more to do with my personal preferences than writing or plot, both of which are quite good. The lone hero, the “Dirty Harry,” cop I find to be singularly flawed and which force the character into impossible situations from which they must heroically extricate themselves in the most implausible manner. In the meantime, I'm shouting, “you dimwit, why didn’t you tell someone where you were going? or something similar.” Nevertheless, good story, well told. show less

Best Joe Court mystery so far! Lots of twists and turns I didn't see coming. So why not 5 stars? There's some jarring shifts between an omniscient third-party narrator and first-person narrative from Joe. I don't mind that usually, but give me some kind of indication of the shift. Make it happen on a chapter boundary, or at least have some kind of separator - a #, a row of ***, or something to indicate the shift.

That said, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. I read it in a show more single day. show less

Nine years ago, Steve helped his girlfriend disappear and framed her abusive stepfather for her murder. Now she's back in town and it seems like all her stories aren't matching up.

This book drew me in right away with a suspenseful, interesting story. I eagerly kept reading as Steve tried to piece together various puzzle pieces to figure out the real story. A wonderful mystery.

I have read all of the books in this Ash Rashid detective series and loved them all. In this installment of the series Ash is no longer working as a detective for the Indianapolis Police Department but has been reassigned to the community relations department. He primarily gives speeches to schools. However, on his way home from work one day he finds a car accident. Since no other officers are available, Ash is told to stay at the scene until an officer can arrive. Ash is unable not to show more investigate so he begins asking questions to those who were in the area when the accident happened. He determined that these responses did not add up and begins to investigate what he feels is a homicide.

As usual, author Chris Culver outdoes himself with his writing. It is fast paced with plenty of twists and turns and there is a cliffhanger ending. I also love that his protagonist is an American Muslim, albeit not much of a practitioner of his faith. Ash is an alcoholic. This is a welcome addition to American fiction and normalizes how we view Muslims in our society. show less