SILENT MERCY

Alexandra Cooper, Mike Chapman and Mercer are all back together again and trying to solve some very strange cases. A body has been found in a Harlem Baptist church. However, the church used to be a synagogue and the body is headless. Soon, the head is found and another body is found in another church - with its tongue cut out. Alex, along with Mike and Mercer must find the connection to these murders with religious overtones. At the same time, Alex is in trouble with her bosses for her rigorous prosecution of a priest accused of molesting young boys. As always, I love Linda Fairstein's books. Some of this book made me stop and think because the Catholic church is very set in its views about women's roles and I have long disagreed with many of them. Other churches have their issues and this book brought out some of them. As usual, it was great to spend time with these three great characters. This time, there was little change in Alex's personal relationships. I am ready for her to get rid of Luc and start a relationship with Chapman, but there really wasn't progress in that direction in this book at all. In fact, there wasn't even a hint of jealousy as there had been in previous books. Rating - A