Trouble awaits rookie LAPD Officer Ellie Rush as she patrols the mean streets of Los Angeles on her bicycle… source of pride for Ellie’s grandmother, but annoyance to her mom), Ellie becomes tangled in the investigation of the coed’s murder—with equal parts help and hindrance from her nosy best friend, her over-involved ex-boyfriend, a smoldering detective, and seemingly everyone else in her extended family…only to uncover secrets that a killer may go to any lengths to ensure stay hidden.
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If you’ve never read Naomi Hirahara’s work before, this series is a great place to start. Hirahara introduces us to rookie bicycle cop Ellie Rush whose ambition and focus are refreshing, while staying true to how a person in their early 20s really acts and feels. When an ex-classmate from college is murdered, Ellie finds herself plunging deeper into the dangerous mystery — in part because of her own desire to solve the case, but also because a relative much higher in LAPD command is driven to find the killer as well. I absolutely loved getting better acquainted with parts of downtown Los Angeles, as well as the myriad Asian cultures that we’re lucky enough to have as part of our community. This is very much a mystery about immigrants and why diversity at every level of government is critical to understanding the Los Angeles population. Yet Hirahara makes it entertaining and engaging with the intelligent, personable Officer Ellie’s pursuit of justice.
Bike cop Ellie Rush finds her first dead body on the job, and realizes it is a former college classmate, Jenny Nguyen. Ellie ends up in the middle of police department politics when her Aunt Cheryl, the Assistant chief, maneuvers her into investigating Jenny’s murder with Detective Cortez Williams. Making everything interesting is Ellie’s nosy best friend, her over-involved ex-boyfriend Benjamin, an attraction to detective Williams. The killer is dangerously close and the motive reaches back to Vietnam.
Ellie Rush is half Japanese, half Caucasian who speaks Spanish and gets a large amount of derision from her peers and most of her family for becoming a police officer. She has to deal with issues of broken trust close to her in this novel. Nay Pram is her best friend who is loyal and blunt at times. Detective Cortez Williams is an interesting character, perhaps even the breakout in this story, and I look forward to seeing him more. Aunt Cheryl is so ambitious she is dangerous. Making for a layered story beyond just the murder.
Los Angeles many areas and events that Ellie patrols provide a neighborhood perspective to the sprawling city. The mix of cultures is a defining feature of the novel which made it more alive. The plot was interesting and took turns I wasn’t expecting. It maintained a good and balanced pace. The climax wasn’t my favorite high octane, but was handled well none-the-less. The wrap up left me with that feeling of wanting more so it won’t be the end. Always a sign of a good book. It did take a few chapters to get used to the youthful lingo in the narrative.
A good, solid debut novel that promises good things in a unique mystery niche.
Ratings: Excellent – Loved it! Buy it now and put this author on your watch list
Elllie Rush is a rookie with the LAPD bicycle patrol division. Her desire to become a detective gets an early start when she gets involved in the murder of a classmate. Is she helping the investigation? Will it help or hurt her career?
This second series from Naomi Hirahara is off to a great start. The characters are fully formed already, and that gives a depth to the plot that I really enjoyed. The plot was interesting with some nice misdirection and twists along the way.