Three Reasons for Revenge
Melbourne DS Judith Lee is stressed even before she gets to work. She’s getting nowhere on the drive-by killing of a drug kingpin—no one will talk—plus her face and body hurt from the beating she took the night before while taking down a drug-addled asshat of a fellow cop. Waiting for her when she gets to work is a young woman named Alexis Turner, there to report a sexual assault. Judith no longer works sex crimes, but Alexis has asked for her by name, so Judith, who really doesn’t have the time, takes the complaint. But as Alexis describes the incident, the story sounds horribly familiar and when Alexis names her attacker, Judith is unmoored.
Ten years ago, a different young woman came to Judith with the exact same complaint about the exact same man, and Judith has always regretted how she handled it. Perhaps, she reasons, if she can get justice for Alexis, she might be able to forgive herself for her past mistake. This, she decides, is a case she must take.
The case, though, doesn’t unfold neatly. The accused man, Robert Walker, is a well-known psychologist in town. He claims he’s innocent and is adamant someone is out to get him. And as Judith begins trying to verify Alexis’s complaint, she realizes he might be right. Someone is targeting not just Robert, but also a successful fashion designer named Elsa Anderson and a single father named Jack Miller. As Judith looks into the threats against the three, she realizes that Alexis Turner came to see her deliberately. Judith and those she loves are also in danger.
Dervla McTiernan has written a very smart, very satisfying mystery. Each chapter adds more plot—this is a slightly byzantine story—but all of it tracks and all of it is easy to parse. There are no wacky, out-of-the-blue twists here. The novel is a well-constructed slow-burn thriller with a fabulous lead. Judith is an excellent detective, and it is satisfying to watch her, patiently and methodically, figure out the who and the why behind the crimes.
Judith is matched by a terrific villain. Smart, devious, and lacking even a drop of ordinary human kindness, they are a real match for Judith. Watching Judith slowly get the upper hand is marvelously satisfying. I recommend Three Reasons for Revenge unreservedly and hope McTiernan plans for more Judith Lee books. The detective—and this book—are winners.