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May 10, 2017
Oh what a pleasure it was to read this book! There were no out-in-left-field twists or turns, no OMG how did I miss that. Just an old fashioned police procedural featuring beloved characters from the 1990's. Not the least bit boring despite "just" being a police procedural. This is the final novel featuring Lt. Sigrid Harald who is still recovering from the death of lover Oscar Nauman. The novel with her and Judge Knott, Three Day Town, chronologically has not yet taken place. Two men are found dead on a bench, poisoned by food left by do gooders. Each man has a connection to two very old ladies who live on a near-by street. Each of the old ladies, one the widow of a mafia don, the other a world famous opera singer has reason to wish one of the victims dead. There are lots of surprises in this book, it's just that each is logical and does not come from left field, leaving the reader feeling conned. With a few deft sentences Maron brings the secondary characters to life, both those from Harald's detective team and those from her new art world. The sad life of the homeless and near homeless victims was was explored with compassion. Visits to homeless shelters where the volunteers could become clients on a moments notice was particularly sad and thought provoking. The two main suspects and their worlds of being an opera diva and mafia widow were well drawn by Maron. There were also interesting peeks into the world of fine art and publishing. It's been a long wait for another Harald book, sad this is the last one. No gunfights, no car chases, just a very well done exploration of how so much can go wrong in life and how sometimes as start toward recovery can be made