This is book 30 in the Gregor Demarkian series, and sadly, it is the last. The author passed away and her sons published the book posthumously. (They wrote a tribute to their mom in the afterward. Despite not knowing anything about the author or her life, I found the tribute moving and heartfelt.) But it’s the first book in the series that I’ve read.
One of Our Own by Jane Haddam
Genre: Police procedural
Publication: 17 November 2020, Minotaur
In Jane Haddam’s One of Our Own, Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent and police consultant, returns for his final case—a surprising murder and an attempted murder, which threaten the safety of his Philadelphia neighborhood.
A mysterious black van is spotted by several people at various times in the area around Cavanaugh Street, Philadelphia’s Armenian-American enclave. Presumed by some to be related to the increasing ICE raids around the area, the mystery deepens one night when a body falls out of the back of the van when speeding through the neighborhood. (Blurb from Goodreads)
Marta Warkowski, a reclusive older woman, is found bound up in a garbage bag after it falls out of the van. In a coma, Warkowski is unable to tell police how she ended up as she did. When they go to search her apartment, the police find the dead body of her building’s super, a man with whom she has a history of conflict. How did she end up in garbage bag in the back of a mysterious van? How did he end up dead in her locked apartment? What does all of this have to do with the real estate holdings of infamous local developer, Cary Alder?
Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent and consultant, is ready to retire. He and his wife Bennis have agreed to foster a child, Javier, with a mysterious past and limited language skills. But he is pulled in once again, for a final case, to uncover the truth about the murder—and attempted murder—on Cavanaugh Street. (added blurb details from Netgalley)
My thoughts
This is a final book in the series. I haven’t read any of the other titles. That’s unfortunate: I’m sure I missed a great deal of nuance in the story. There’s quite a bit of reference to earlier novels and some of that confused me. Even so, Haddam gave enough contextual clues that I was able to work out some of the characters’ past interactions.
While a big part of the actual mystery didn’t interest me, the characters did. That kept me reading. Characters like Bennis, Gregor’s wife, and the priest, Gregor’s old friend, intrigued me. Tommy, a young teen, struggles in his relationship with his surrogate father, now jailed for murder. Sister Margaret Mary fears ICE raids (as most of the residents in the Hispanic neighborhood do) and I could understand and feel the fear an unmarked van sparked throughout the area. Pickles the overdressed dog made a terrific addition to the cast.
Some characters I rooted for; others I rooted for their downfall. But they were always believable. Even the unsympathetic ones, such as Marta (who refuses to give up the apartment that’s been in her family for generations) or Meera (always infuriated by Americans), sparked an emotional response. Even when I didn’t have a clue what was happening, I was apprehensive about what lay ahead for these people.
As the book went on, the conflict became clearer. It never felt very intense. While I never understood why the police would consult with Demarkian–he seems in their way–I did like how he investigated. While nothing in the book stood out as exceptional, One of Our Own is still a good mystery.
The book ends on a hopeful note. It’s a bittersweet but fitting farewell, I think, to a beloved series, and I feel confident that the characters will live on in readers’ imaginations.
When Haddam wrote this book, she was dying of cancer. In a sense, this is her goodbye to her supportive fans. They are probably the best judges of the quality of One of Our Own, not me.
The book is probably best for fans of the Gregor Demarkian series. Even so, I enjoyed it.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.