Night Watch

Library Journal New York prosecutor Alexandra Cooper (Silent Mercy) quickly returns from visiting her boyfriend, Luc, a restaurateur in southern France, to oversee multiple high-profile cases. The wealthy director of the World Economic Bureau has allegedly raped a maid in a Manhattan hotel. And two murders put Luc at the center of Alex's investigation when the bodies are found with matchboxes from his new Manhattan restaurant in their pockets. As the evidence from the cases becomes increasingly entangled, Alex begins to question her objectivity as well as the viability of her long-distance romance. The lively repartee among her fellow investigators, particularly Mike Chapman and Mike Mercer, provides the levity to break the increasing tension, and Fairstein supplies fascinating details of New York City's restaurant world. VERDICT Fairstein's extensive prosecutorial experience adds authenticity to this thrilling procedural, a tasty soufflé of escargots, Beaujolais, cocaine, and murder that will entice the author's many fans. [See Prepub Alert, 2/5/12.]—Jerry P. Miller. Cambridge, MA