Valley of Vice by Steve Garcia

Diversion Books

 

Valley of Vice is a police procedural novel.  Two deaths are discovered - one is an apparent suicide the other a murder tied in with arson.  Detective Philippa Wallace and Detective Salvadore Reyes investigate both and start to believe the two deaths are connected.  They pursue the case gathering evidence and conducting numerous interrogations to prove their theory. To complicate matters, internal investigations gets in their way when it is suspected there is a bad cop in their midst. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect.

 

I found the story difficult to follow at times.  Like most police procedurals there is more than one plot thread that develops.  Each thread is interesting but they could have been developed in more detail. There are also so many characters involved and they just aren’t developed and distinct enough. I found myself frequently going back in the story to clarify who was who until I was about half way through the book. 

 

Another thing that irked me was the “locker room” humour that frequently surfaced.  Yes, it is most likely a reflection of the reality in a squad room or a bar, but I can live without sexist and homophobic jokes, albeit humour is a personal thing.

For me this was an - almost but not quite - read.