Deaths of Jocasta and The Intersection of Law and Desire: Micky Knight mysteries by J.M. Redmann

Deaths of Jocasta by J.M. Redmann

New Victoria Publishers Inc, 1992. Second printing.

Overview: A few months after the events of Death by the Riverside, Dr. Cordelia James hires Micky to investigate some truly ugly hatemail sent to her clinic for women's health. Before too long, Cordelia is implicated in several murders, and Micky has to do her best to prove that her love interest was framed when the police are content to finger the sexy and smart philanthropist for heinous malpractice. Micky perseveres as she is distracted with rocky personal relationships that are complicated by her trust issues stemming from yet more personal trauma in her past.

My reaction: This one was a real thriller, although I almost sped through it just because I had to see the end of the extremely brutal murders. While it was a page-turner for sure, and Micky got herself and others out of several nearly-fatal situations, some of the satisfaction of catching the criminals was taken away by the fact that it was a series of accidents (i.e., they were stupid enough to keep coming after Micky instead of melting away to somewhere she couldn't find them). On the other hand, her tenacity (and the fact that she has nine lives) was impressive, and saved the lives of who knows how many people, and that's always a good ending!

The Intersection of Law and Desire by J.M. Redmann

W.W. Norton & Company, 1995.

Overview: Micky takes on two cases at the beginning of the novel from characters introduced to us in Death by the Riverside. One client is willing to pay her lucratively to get out of a financial entanglement that was increasingly feeling like blackmail, and the other (which she does pro bono) is just a kid who is worried about his younger sister, Cissy. As Micky gets in deeper with both cases, she alienates her friends and lover, but is compelled to address her past by exposing criminals in the present.

My reaction:  Like Deaths of Jocasta, this was not an easy read in terms of subject matter, but I thought it was pretty well done otherwise. Micky falls into extremely high-stakes undercover work, and it is at once impressive and depressing: she successfully gains criminals' trust while losing all the trust of her friends. Of course, I wished this wasn't necessary, but I could see the motivations behind it, and it definitely heightened the drama! This was definitely a strong installment, and I'd like to read more of Micky's adventures.