Silent Witness
A
Sam Kincaid Mystery
Michael Norman
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-498-8 (1590584988)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-498-9 (9781590584989)
Publication Date: May 2008
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis
(from
the publisher): Sam Kincaid and Kate McConnell must once again look
beneath the obvious in an increasingly dangerous scenario.
The armored car robbery went terribly awry, leaving two people dead.
One was a member of the gang believed responsible for the crime. Walter
Bradshaw, the 45-year-old leader of the Reformed Church of the Divine
Christ, is charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery. Bradshaw
leads an arch-conservative, anti-government group of Mormon polygamists
who were once a part of Warren Jeffs’ Fundamentalist Church.
Captured after a high-speed chase, Bradshaw currently sits in a cell at
the Utah State Prison, awaiting trial for the armored car fiasco. The
rest of the Bradshaw gang remains at large.
Then two days before Bradshaw’s preliminary hearing, Arnold
Ginsberg, one of two witnesses to the robbery, is stabbed and
bludgeoned to death in a parking garage in downtown Salt Lake City.
That same evening, the second witness, 24-year old University of Utah
student Robin Joiner, narrowly escapes being kidnapped as she walks
across campus to her car ...
Review:
Sam Kincaid, head of the Special Investigation Branch within the Utah
Department of Corrections, and Detective Lieutenant Kate McConnell
return to look into the mysterious death and disappearance of two
witnesses to a robbery in Silent
Witness, the second mystery in this series by Michael
Norman.
A cult of Mormon polygamists, headed by 45-year-old Walter Bradshaw,
has been exiled from the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of the
Latter Day Saints. Under Bradshaw's leadership, they decide to build
their own church in southern Utah, funding the cost by robbing banks.
During the hold up of an armored van, officers in the van show their
guns, and the shooting begins, leaving two men dead, one being a
relative of Bradshaw. The Bradshaws, however, get away with some money.
After a high-speed chase, the fugitives are captured. Bradshaw, under
warrant for previous offenses is immediately incarcerated. When the
investigation begins into this crime, it is discovered there were two
witnesses. Arnold Ginsberg, an accountant, was just leaving his office
when the attempted robbery occurred. He is willing and able to give
testimony at trial and identify the would-be robbers. Also, able but
not too willing to give testimony, is Robin Joiner, a 24-year-old
graduate student at a local university. Two days before the inquest,
Ginsberg is battered and stabbed to death in his garage. An attempted
abduction is made on Robin but she is able to escape and goes into
hiding. To Kincaid and McConnell, this sounds like a "slam-dunk" case.
They had the lawbreaker in custody, so all they had to do was find the
girl and have her testify. They find, however, there is more to this
crime than just theft, murder and a missing girl.
Arnold's secret life leads Kincaid and McConnell into the gay
underground of Salt Lake City and a partner who seems to live a
lifestyle far exceeding the couple's means. And when Robin is finally
located, she not only refuses to testify, giving no reason for her
decision, but also refuses protection. It takes everything in their
powers to unravel what ultimately becomes a most complicated case.
Silent Witness
is a terrific police procedural that also includes personal dilemmas
for Kincaid. His ex-wife wants their 8 year old daughter, now in Sam's
primary custody, taken away from him because of the danger of his job,
and to move to Atlanta where she will have primary custody and be safe.
Sam must find a way to prevent this. He also has a new boss who is not
too thrilled with the ways Sam handles his job. He and Kate are in
love, but she's not too sure she wants to take on a new husband and his
family. Sam understands this and but how long is he willing to wait?
Simply put, Silent
Witness is a
solid entry in this series.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Silent Witness and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
The
Commission
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), February 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-358-2 (1590583582)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-358-6 (9781590583586)
Silent Witness
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), May 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-498-8 (1590584988)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-498-9 (9781590584989)
Omnimystery keywords for Silent Witness ...
Location(s) referenced: Salt Lake City.