I've been wanting to read a novel by Alafair Burke for quite a while. Her father, James Lee Burke, is one of my favourite modern authors and I wanted to see if the daughter was cut from the same cloth. If this book is a good example I would say she is a lot less noir than JLB and doesn't have quite the same ability to draw word pictures. However, it was still a pretty good read.

Deputy District Attorney Samantha Kincaid has just gotten back to Portland from a couple of weeks of vacation in Hawaii. She thought she would at least have until Monday morning to start her new position with Major Crimes but then a municipal judge is reported missing by her surgeon husband. Sam's boss wants her to go to the house with a couple of detectives to make sure that the case of Judge Clarissa Easterbrook is dealt with properly. Everyone expects that the judge will show up but when her body is found at a building site the case is Sam's first murder case. Police start looking at the husband as is usual in murder cases but Dr. Easterbrook was in surgery at the hospital all Sunday. Just to be sure he is treated fairly he hires a prominent attorney who just happens to be Sam's ex-husband. The investigators hired by the husband's counsel turn up another suspect, a man who had appeared before Judge Easterbrook and had written her threatening letters. He worked at the construction site and a hammer that was used to kill the judge was found in his home. Seems like a slam-dunk case except, of course, Sam starts looking more into the property developers and finds some suspicious activities. Portland has a very strict policy against urban sprawl but it looks like that might change soon and some developers stand to gain handsomely.

Who knew that city politics could be so thrilling? At least in the fictional world they are. I somehow doubt that Winnipeg's zoning disputes could be as convoluted as the ones portrayed in this book in the city of Portland, Oregon. On the other hand there were some pretty shifty things in previous city administrations. Budding novelists take note of the land for fire hall deals; you might be able to use it for a thrill-packed mystery in Winnipeg. ( )

I enjoy her stories, but they aren't quite as unusual as her father's.

Bookcrossing: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8350130/ ( )

Missing Justice is the second novel in Alafair Burke's Samantha Kincaid series. This book finds Deputy District Attorney Samantha promoted to the Major Crimes Division of the Portland District Attorney's office and investigating her first major murder case: the murder of Clarissa Easterbrook. Clarissa Easterbrook is an administrative law judge in Portland and her husband is the attending surgeon at Oregon Health Sciences University.

Everything seems to be in the bag when Melvin Jackson is found with the murder weapon and access to the body dump site. Jackson had also been harassing Judge Easterbrook because he was about to be evicted from his public housing and would lose his children because of it. Thus, motive. The District Attorney and the Portland Police Bureau's Major Crimes Team are delirious to have this case in the bag, but Samantha isn't quite so sure. The defense for Melvin Jackson posed some questions Sam couldn't answer, questions that motivated her to start poking around a little more. When that poking brings her ex-husband onto the scene, all hell starts to break lose.

Alafair Burke is truly a master of female protagonists. I love how spunky Samantha Kincaid is. There are a lot of Sam's characteristics that I can identify with, but I am in awe of her gumption. And she sure needs it as she's surrounded by so much testosterone. Along with all that spunk is a down-to-earth gal who finds herself in some rather embarrassing predicaments as well.

Burke's characters are among the best in crime fiction, especially her females. Sam (like Ellie Hatcher) doesn't always have her hair perfect; she doesn't always make the best choices; and sometimes she doesn't say the right things. But she's intelligent; she's resourceful; she's hardworking and dedicated - and she has a dog. Burke shows how the everyday woman can be just as great a protagonist as a superhero or someone overcoming a huge life hurdle.

The Samantha Kincaid series is written in first person and it works well. First person brings the reader closer to the character who is narrating, and Samantha is a character you want to know intimately.

The plot of this novel is completely engaging. The constant mystery of "who dunnit" keeps you engaged and turning the pages. Alafair doesn't include players who are fluff. If they're there, it's for a reason. So as the reader you're constantly trying to figure out how each character comes into play in the whole scheme of things.

Alafair had me snowed on this ending. I was waiting for another character to turn out to be the culprit and I was so off base, I was on another ball field! - Did I mention her use of sports analogies?

And finally, I have to add that Alafair Burke has the best sense of humor. I have a hard time with crime fiction that doesn't include any humor. Crime fiction lends itself to being very dark. When an author can lift some of that darkness with humor, he/she has the potential for a great work of art. Missing Justice is exactly that - a great work of art! ( )

Samantha Kincaid doesn’t believe the case she had been handed is the slam dunk her new boss seems to think that it is. She can’t get support from the police because they feel the case is closed and solved. As she follows up on some unexplained clues, she uncovers corruption and blackmail that leads to a murderer attempting to preserve a lifestyle of wealth and power. ( )

Second legal thriller featuring Samantha Kincaid. Good storyline, featuring a fairly complicated murder plot, only criticism is the action takes a while to get going. ( )