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Part of the appeal of mystery novels comes from the multiple vehicles that authors use as plot mechanisms to present their stories. Crime solving sleuths come in all shapes, sizes, sex and experience. Ultimately, readers find a comfortable niche and format for their mystery pleasure. For me, perhaps because of my legal background, the police procedural has always been the mystery I turn to when the mood strikes me to engage in some crime solving. Two of my long-time favorites have been Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch and Ed McBain's Steve Carella. Recently, however, a new cop on the block has appeared on my book table, Detective Abe Lieberman of the Chicago Police Department.
THE LAST DARK PLACE by Stuart M. Kaminsky is the eighth novel featuring the sixty-year old Chicago detective confronting the crimes of a big city along with the difficulties of life. Lieberman is a Job-like figure, a small, cynical and fatalistic man looking ten years older than his actual age, battling crime and his cholesterol count at the same time. He resides on the North Side of Chicago and does the majority of his crime fighting in the Rogers Park area of the city, a modern ethnic melting pot for Jews, Hispanics, Asians and even Caucasian criminals. The trademark of a Lieberman escapade is a juggling act of multiple crimes, committed by several criminals investigated by Lieberman and his Irish Catholic partner Bill Hanrahan, "the Rabbi and the Priest," as they are known on the streets of Chicago. Compounding his crime solving battles are the personal predicaments in Lieberman's life --- from his children, grandchildren, synagogue and community.
The opening scenes of THE LAST DARK PLACE find Lieberman in an Arizona airport handcuffed to Connie Glover, a fugitive from justice that the detective is returning to Chicago. Before they can board the plane, Glover is gunned down, and finding out why the killer was killed becomes Lieberman's next assignment.
Abe Lieberman is more than a police detective. He is a mixture of philosopher, psychologist, rabbi and diplomat. In the melting pot neighborhoods of Chicago, the turf wars between rival ethnic gangs are of prime concern to law enforcement. Lieberman has the respect of the community and he wields his respect as a neighborhood Henry Kissinger, using his skills to mediate and avoid disputes while always being prepared for the use of force if required. Kaminsky, a former resident of the North Shore area, has a remarkable insight into the various communities and nationalities that populate the Chicago area. Through the vehicle of Abe Lieberman he creates characters who are real, and plots that are both simple and complex while always enjoyable and expertly crafted.
Celebrated fictional detectives are engaging because they do more than solve mysteries. Along the way they often face personal dilemmas easily identified by most readers. Abe Lieberman is not only a detective; he is a father and grandfather. Life's personal difficulties take as much of his time as the misdeeds of the criminals he tackles on his job. In THE LAST DARK PLACE, his grandson's bar mitzvah requires Lieberman's attention. That event demands that he cope with major financial and philosophical issues while continuing his criminal investigation. This is the balancing act that is Lieberman's life. He can successfully face those problems because, above all, Abe Lieberman is a mensch, a Yiddish word meaning decent human being, a good person who always takes the high road.
In the hands of an accomplished and skillful writer, an exciting mystery is a wonderful journey to another world. Stuart Kaminsky has taken readers on that journey in countless mysteries set in locales across America and around the world. If you have not had the pleasure of meeting Abe Lieberman, THE LAST DARK PLACE is a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with the Chicago detective and his community. It could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman
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