City of Secrets (Detective Margaret Nolan, #4) by P.J. Tracy 
Series: Detective Margaret Nolan #4
Published by St. Martin's Press on August 20, 2024
Genres: Crime Drama
Pages: 305
Format: eBook
Source: Netgalley
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan returns in P. J. Tracy’s City of Secrets, the next book in the series praised by the New York Times Book Review: “Tracy seems to have found her literary sweet spot.”
Los Angeles Police Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner have worked a lot of different cases, ones where things aren’t always as they appear. And it’s Nolan’s job to find the truth in the darkness around her. When they’re called to the scene of what looks like a fatal car-jacking, Nolan soon realizes her victim was a founder of a company about to sell for millions, and within a day of his death, his partner’s wife is abducted. As Nolan learns more about the victim and his life, she gets pulled into a disturbing world of sex, violence, and big business; and an even darker world, where whispers of an "Angel of Death" are beginning to surface.
One of today's finest crime writers, P. J. Tracy has created a series that is a rich and authentic portrait of LA, filled with the tragedy and optimism of her multi-layered characters and a story guaranteed to keep readers enthralled.
City of Secrets has plenty of great primary as well as secondary characters.
Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner, Detective Al Crawford, are brought into the very odd death of Bruce Messane, a man from the upscale, gated community of Malibu, who was murdered while loitering in his car in one of the worse gang neighborhoods in LA. Bruce and his vehicle are clearly out of place in this neighborhood. What brought him out to the neighborhood so late at night? And it can’t be a coincidence that on the Eve where his organic pet food company, Peppy Pets, is up for sale to a major competitor, his former partner, Veterinarian Dr. Rome Bechtold’s wife has been kidnapped. Is someone desperately trying to stop this merger or is something more sinister happening?
Maggie’s friend Sam Easton has been invited to spend an afternoon with the SWAT team. He would love to make use of his military training and help the people of LA. He is trying to determine if his PTSD will allow him to be around the possible volatile situations without him being triggered
On a personal note, Maggie has started dating Remy Beaudreau who is also a Detective in her Department. They both know that this kind of fraternization is frowned upon and if Captain Mendoza finds out about them, their jobs could be at risk. They are trying to keep their relationship on the down low for now so no one suspects but it is more and more apparent, that Maggie and Remy are the worst kept secret in the Department. I guess it is hard to fool a room full of trained Detectives. Maggie is quickly trying to decide if the growing feelings she has for Remy is worth more than the job she has always wanted in Homicide.
THOUGHTS:
This is the fourth book in the series but I liked that I didn’t feel left behind for not knowing the prior stories or connections between characters. I liked that no matter how many other characters were presented, Maggie still felt like the main character of the series and I liked her.
There were also a LOT of POV changing in this story. There was Maggie, Remy, one of the other officers, who all took us through the investigation, while one of the witness, an officer from Bruce’s company, someone from the merging company and Dr. Bechtold (the Vet) gave us all the necessary insider information on the merger. Sometimes I feel that too many POVs can leave the story feeling very jerky. In this story, I thought it was handled very well and the change of character was necessary to build this investigation to its final solution.
I also like that the author was setting Remy up to be the one to switch jobs and that his feelings for Maggie were stronger than his desire to stay in Homicide. It was almost a non-issue to him and didn’t require any forced “it’s me or your job” falling out. I think we all agree that it shouldn’t be the woman in every relationship that has to sacrifice careers for romance.
I would enjoy reading more of this series and seeing how things work out with Det. Maggie Nolan and her work family.
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