LONG BRIGHT RIVER
★★★★★ by Liz Moore
Hutchinson, £12.99
WHEN the bodies of murdered women start appearing on Kensington
Avenue in Philadelphia – an area notorious for drugs and sex work – the police response is muted.
Officers are already swamped by a soaring number of overdose victims on the street due to the opioid crisis gripping the US. So their bosses don’t see the loss of a few sex workers as a priority.
But Mickey Fitzpatrick, who has been patrolling the 24th District for years, does not agree. She knows most of the working women by name, including her younger sister Kacey, who she fears she will find dead every time she is called to deal with an overdose. When Mickey realises a killer is preying on the street women, she becomes obsessed with finding him.And even when she is warned off and her son Thomas is threatened, Mickey refuses to rest until she has protected Kacey from becoming the predator’s next victim.
Every so often a thriller comes along that is so remarkable that it transcends genre and Long Bright River is one such book.
The mystery at its heart is absorbing, thoughtful and perfectly paced and Mickey is a flawed heroine who it’s easy to root for.
But the fourth novel from acclaimed American writer Moore is also heartbreakingly profound in exploring the strain put on families and entire communities by the opioid crisis in US cities.
It exposes the way addicted parents’ broken promises inflict childhood wounds that never heal. But it also gives hope that familial bonds and community spirit can ultimately triumph.
This flawless masterpiece deserves to be a bestseller.