Neely Jones: The Medusa Pool

Rating:
Summary: excellent writing
Review: African American Neely Jones leaves her San Francisco police officer job to accept a deputy position in the sheriff's office of Taft County, Oregon. She moves because her significant other Jan Kato works at the nearby Westport Oceanographic Center. However, the white male department refuses to take seriously their new black female token. To them she is a double token to satisfy blacks and females. Her lowly situation changes when she unseats the present sheriff, Gill Willis, in a write-in campaign. Surprisingly, Neely did not run for office nor wants the job. However, an irate Gill immediately quits to protest Neely's election.

When she takes office, Neely learns that Gill was on the take as someone left an envelope filled with money for him. She receives anonymous calls warning her of the consequences if she fails to resign. She ignores the threats until Jan is found dead in a pool of jellyfish. She deeply grieves her loss even as she feels guilty by not acting on the personal threats. Still, a determined Neely plans to uncover the identity of the killer regardless of whether she obtains any cooperation from her own staff.

M.K. Wren,s new series is a twenty-four karat winner that reads more like a suspense thriller than a police procedural. Readers see bigotry operate in a de facto open manner as well as hidden in the shadows. The heroine is a strong person who bends but becomes more powerful as she refuses to allow narrow minded individuals to stop her from accomplishing her job. NEELY JONES: THE MEDUSA POOL is book one of what appears to be a dynamic series that looks like it's heading for a wonderfully long run.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A series with potential
Review: I liked this book. I think Neely Jones is a very likable new mystery heroine with lots of promise. However, I did find the author's use of racial slurs to be over the top. Don't get me wrong. Racism is alive and well in America. But, as an African-American, I can honestly say that I've experienced less blantant racism during my entire life than Neely experiences in just one page! I hope MK Wren can tone that down in the next book. I look forward to reading about Neely's further adventures.