An Unacceptable Death

Starred review from November 28, 2005
At the start of Seranella's outstanding eighth Miranda "Munch" Mancini mystery (after 2004's Unwilling Accomplice
), the Los Angeles auto mechanic is enjoying a domestic stability that she never thought possible after her sordid existence as a drug addict and prostitute. Indeed, the challenge Seranella faces as her heroine moves further away from her lurid past is to keep the sense of conflict alive. She certainly accomplishes this when Munch's fiancé, detective Enrique "Rico" Chacón, is shot dead by his fellow cops in a drug bust gone wrong. We learn that there had been a bounty put on Munch's head by the newly reformed Satan's Pride Motorcycle gang (whom Munch had helped take down years back) and that Rico's death may have resulted from his attempts to protect her. To compound matters, the police department is withholding Chacón's pension from his family, claiming that he was corrupt. Determined to clear his name and to get revenge, Munch sets out on a dangerous investigation of her own. This is character-driven crime fiction at its finest by one of the genre's most accomplished stylists.