This was a pretty good first effort from the daughter of legendary mystery writer James Lee Burke. Like her heroine, Samantha Kincaid, Alafair Burke was a Deputy District Attorney in Portland, Oregon. The book is chock-o-block with colorful details of life in a DA’s office, although their inclusion sometimes interrupts the flow of the story.

The book has a decent plot with enough complications to keep it moving along at a good pace. The conclusion is a little far fetched, but Burke had built up to it reasonably well so it didn’t come out of the blue.

Proving that someone can be smart, well educated, and loaded with material but still not produce great mystery novel, Burke’s writing is second rate. The narrative is clunky, the dialog is stilted, and the jokes are flat. The writing seemed to improve in the second half, but it could be that I was just numb to it by then.

As a lawyer who would like nothing better than to write mystery books, I admire any fellow member of the bar who has achieved such an accomplishment. And, as a Portlander, I like to find a series set in my city. So I will probably give Ms. Burke a second chance. Otherwise, I don’t think I would bother.