PROBABLE CAUSE Theresa Schwegel January 2007 St. Martin's Minotaur

Ray Weiss wanted to be a cop to make his father proud. But now, finally in uniform, he finds himself embroiled in an illegal scheme that threatens to send an innocent man to prison. Not wanting to be disloyal to his fellow officers, but also not wanting to be responsible for false arrests, Weiss is trapped between doing the right thing and doing "right" by his friends. PROBABLE CAUSE follows Schwegel's Edgar-winning first novel, OFFICER DOWN (even making a passing reference to "all the trouble in the twenty-third"), and is written in the same vein: Gritty, dark, police work; confusing loyalties; and life as a street cop. As in Officer Down, this novel is written in present tense, and in Schwegel's hands this works effectively, making the story feel immediate and urgent, especially with the time constraints within the story. Except for a couple of clichés Schwegel uses during the last chapters, Probable Cause is an interesting and fresh book, with good characterization, vivid settings, and some good twists. A good follow-up to her first, very successful book.

Judy Clemens