Rezension

A Tragedy and a Lawsuit (Decker Lazarus 6)

Grievous Sin (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Series, Book 6) - Faye Kellerman

Grievous Sin (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Series, Book 6)
von Faye Kellerman

Bewertet mit 4 Sternen

Big day for LAPD cop Pete Decker and wife Rina – they are in hospital for the birth of the new baby daughter, all along with Pete’s daughter Cindy from his first marriage and Rina’s two sons Sammy and Jake from her late first husband and her parents and Pete’s partner Marge Dunn. And as if that weren’t enough of a load, there is a serious issue with Rina and then all of a sudden, a young baby girl disappears, from the same nursery the Decker’s baby is in. Despite all of his worries and some serious lack of sleep, that hits too close to home for Pete. The nursery probably just was not simply understaffed but seriously neglecting any security procedure: 19-year-old Cindy who really took for her baby sister ended up being the only person on site with all of the babies, left there by nurse Darlene. As her dad puts it, p „She’s asking for a tragedy and a lawsuit.“ p 70 But did bossy nurse Marie kidnap the infant or was she indeed yet another victim?

Lots of Rina AND Marge Dunn, but also for the first time lots of Cindy. She feels guilty as the little girl disappeared while she had been left alone in the nursery and is very emotional about her little sister and how she might have been in danger, too. Unfortunately for Pete, the 19-year-old student of criminal science starts to flirt with the reality rather than the academic approach to crime investigation and gives her dad quite something to worry about. „But that was Dad. Worried that she wasn’t having enough fun. And then when she tried to have some fun, he’d worry for her safety.
It was an occupational hazard of his job, always seeing the world as a battlefield. That’s why she’d decided to study criminal science from an academic viewpoint. Still, it must be thrilling to be tossed in the thick of it.“ p 94 But then, her stubbornness and passion do not come from nowhere. Watch out, LAPD!

Again, as in most books, author Faye Kellerman sets something in the situation for the Deckers in contrast to something related with the investigation. That IS repetetive (I have complained about that in general for most series like this before), but I really appreciate that more and more with each Decker volume: Kellerman creates an issue and different approaches people might take or just simply different situations they are in when something really hits them. That quite often makes all the difference and gives the reader something to think about, if only for a while. It lifts the series beyond the „mere crime“ books. Most books of the series dwell upon a specific issue of Judaism, too (Rina is orthodox and Decker followed suit). This time, there is some really emotional discussion about God and how to carry on if misfortune strikes that should be more universal for most any religion: „We don’t understand Hashem’s ultimate design. But that doesn’t mean we can’t ask.“….„You may ask. You may not get, but you may ask.“ p 89 and some really wonderful remark from Rabbi Schulman, whom I have grown to like a lot in the series „Rina Miriam, you should do whatever you need to do to get you over this difficult time. … Judaism has a lot of rituals, a lot of non-negotiable behaviors. But we also allow for a great deal of personal freedom. Personal freedom and its sister trait, personal responsibility, are what make the religion so hard. But they are also what make the religion so satisfying.“ p 91. Kellerman manages to explain her religion in quite a great way.
A very solid 4 out of 5 stars – I found the ending somewhat repetetive, in particular compared to the book before – and some of the theme of it a bit too overly conventional. As this sequel does not have that many cross references to others in the series, readers should be capable to read it standalone.