The Bottom Line: A cleverly-constructed murder mystery with a one-of-a-kind heroine at its core.
The fourth book in the Sammy Greene series opens in New York City, as smug real estate tycoon Vince Garibaldi is lured into a midnight hour meeting. After handing over a thumb drive and denying accusations of being a snitch, he’s summarily bludgeoned to death, belted into his Porsche, and sunk into the East River. It’s the first of two significant – and seemingly unrelated – murders in the novel.
But as you might suspect, things are not quite what they seem in Dirty Deeds.
Elsewhere in the Big Apple, doctors can see that six-month-old Jampa Dorjee is clearly far too small for his age. After the child’s mother, Tibetan immigrant Tenzin Dolma, brings the baby to the ER, tests find that the child’s blood arsenic levels are 20 times higher than normal. As the baby clings to life in the hospital, Child Protective Services and NYPD arrive at the family’s apartment and arrest Dolma for attempted murder.
Nursing student Ana Pappajohn, whose father Gus is a retired cop, believes Dolma has been unjustly accused. As part of her efforts to free Dolma from jail, Ana makes an introduction to series heroine Sammy Greene. Set in 2007 during the waning years of peak terrestrial radio, Sammy hosts a talk show on the liberal Radio USA network, serving as a platform for social advocacy. But it seems that Sammy has a history of pushing things a bit too far. Will the show’s new direction be a fit with her program director, to say nothing of city officials?
Authors Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid have created a sophisticated narrative in which tragic worlds collide. Shilan and Reid hold back just enough information in the early going to sustain mysteries in both stories, resulting in a series of huge payoffs once Anna and others finally stitch them together. While Dolma’s plight is far more evocative and stirring than its counterpart, the way in which the connective tissue between the two is constructed is worth the price of admission.
Dirty Deeds is also a fascinating lens through which the social and political dynamics of 2007 are revisited. As you might guess, the plight of Tibetan immigrants are explored in a way that’s downright moving. In addition, get ready to relive the 2007-era political landscape, including Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Barack Obama. Even Donald Trump, who declares “They couldn’t pay me enough to be a politician,” makes an appearance.
While we learn a lot about Sammy through well-placed snippets of backstory, readers are advised to begin with Book 1, Dead Air, to experience this unique heroine’s origin story.
