Special Review from December 2008: Southern Cross

In Patricia Cornwell's Southern Cross, the first book in the Andy Brazil series, she told us another dark tale that took place down south in Virginia. For Judy Hammer, she took on the challenge as the new police chief in Charlotte, Virginia, and brought her deputy chief and a rookie police officer to help her deal with the tangled mess she landed in. For the trio, they dealt with police corruption, scandals and swiftly handled a murder on their doorstep with a big-city police department. It was no easy task for them to clean up the police force. While Judy dealt with loss and the brunt of anguish from the local government, a computer virus froze their screens with a blue fish and later with a southern cross, the symbol from a gang. In this fast-paced police procedural thriller, we watch how Judy and her team took care of the mayhem and put them into an organized law and order system.

This was a gripping mystery. I loved the location of Charlotte, North Carolina, and how a small town business became ugly. I did feel a hardship for Judy, who came under fire and such criticism. I liked how Andy and Virginia helped her out with this harrowing ordeal. There were some ugly stuff going on here that dealt with corruption and terrorism. But I loved how it didn't let it faze them and became stronger for that. Lots of drama and hard-core suspense in this series to keep you reading to the end.

Why not give this a go today?