Book Review: "Sullivan's Justice" by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

Carolyn Sullivan is a probation officer in Ventura. CA.  Her brother Neil, who has a drug habit that Carolyn doesn't know about,  becomes a murder suspect when he finds his girlfriend Laurel dead in his pool.  As the investigation proceeds, Laurel's murder is connected to several other recent murders.  

There are  two keys to the investigation: Melody, Neil's ex-girlfriend Melody, who may be able to clear him but refuses to do so;  the second is Raphael Moreno,a very dangerous prison inmate who has refused to speak to anyone so far, but may know how whether the murders are really connected.   Carolyn's priority is to get Moreno to talk and try to clear Neil.  As Carolyn gets closer to the truth,  she finds herself and her family in increasing danger. 

Ms. Rosenberg does an excellent job of concealing the real motive for the murders  by hiding it in plain sight, so to speak.  She also does a  a fine job of defining the main characters using brief stories from their past.  The suspense builds rapidly, particularly in the 2nd half, as the "pieces of the puzzle"  are neatly woven together. 

There are several content warnings.  There are a couple of intimate scenes that are more descriptive than necessary. There are also a few cases of objectionable language.