Night Watch

May 21, 2012
A too slavish devotion to the details of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case of 2011 undermines Fairstein’s 14th legal thriller featuring her alter ego, Manhattan sex crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper (after 2011’s Silent Mercy). While Cooper is vacationing with her lover, restaurateur Luc Rouget, in a village outside Cannes, France, the discovery of a former employee of his, Lisette Honfleur, floating dead in a forest pond threatens to spoil their holiday. Soon after, Alex’s boss demands she return to New York City to deal with a firestorm. Mohammed Gil-Darsin (aka MGD), head of the World Economic Bureau, has been arrested following an accusation of rape leveled at him by a hotel maid. Just as in real-life, the prosecutors’ initial belief in the victim’s account becomes less strong the more they learn about her. The major departure from the actual case arrives late while the subplot centering on deaths that may be linked to Rouget doesn’t quite deliver, but as usual, ultimately, Fairstein does. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

July 1, 2012
There's no peace for Manhattan Sex Crimes prosecutor Alexandra Cooper, whose vacation on the Riviera is interrupted by two crimes, one outside her bailiwick, one inside, and both very uncomfortable indeed. After a gratuitous brush with a handful of skulls left outside the restaurant owned by her sweetie Luc Rouget, Alex learns of a far more disturbing development when the body of Lisette Honfleur, who'd been helping Luc with the books at Le Relais a Mougins, is fished from Fontmerle Pond. No one's asking Alex to investigate Lisette's murder, but she can't help being concerned about how close the dead girl might have been to Luc, especially since she had a matchbox labeled "LUTECE," the legendary New York restaurant Luc plans to reopen, in her pocket. Before Alex can do more than wonder about the murder, she's abruptly reeled back to Manhattan by her boss, New York County District Attorney Paul Battaglia. Blanca Robles, a Guatemalan chambermaid at the Eurotel, has accused hotel guest Mohammed Gil-Darsin, head of the World Economic Bureau and aspiring president of Ivory Coast, of rape, and she's got the DNA evidence to prove it--or at least to prove that there was a sexual encounter. As Blanca's credibility plummets, Fairstein (Silent Mercy, 2011, etc.) creates a compelling narrative by the simple expedient of plundering news stories about the remarkably similar accusations against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. But lest Alex assume she can forget about Lisette now that she's up to her neck in this new case, the corpse of unemployed waiter Luigi Calamari is pulled from Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal with a matchbox marked "LUTECE" in his pocket, threatening to cut off Alex's romance with Luc at the root. Not surprisingly, the case ripped from the headlines is much more absorbing than the tale of restaurant malfeasance and imperiled love. Alex's 14th is distinctly below average for this bestselling series.

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March 1, 2012

Alexandra Cooper is going to some fancy New York restaurants. But the Manhattan prosecutor, who serves as protagonist of ITW Silver Bullet Award winner Fairstein's best-selling series, will not be eating but uncovering the dirty secrets of the rich and powerful beneath the gleaming surface of Gotham's best watering holes. Readers will be hungry for this; look for the eight- to ten-city tour.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2012
While visitng her boyfriend, Luc, an acclaimed chef, in the charming French town of Mougins, NYC prosecutor Alexandra Cooper trips overboth literally and figurativelya serial murder case that just might be her undoing. The local authorities appear clueless about forensics; the only thing they seem capable of doing is pointing a finger at Luc. Why? Because the killer's first victim is a young woman who had worked at Luc's restaurant, and the next involves an accident caused by Luc. At the same time, Alex learns that a prominent West African leader living in France is accused of rape by a housekeeper while he was staying in New York, and her colleagues, investigators Mercer and Chapman, get the case. When the couple returns to New York, Alex dives into the rape case as Luc prepares to reopen one of the city's most famous French restaurants, Lutece. Fairstein is in vintage form here, weaving the rape and murder stories together with great detail and clarity. As always, Manhattan becomes a character in itself, with the spotlight shining here on the inner workings of the restaurant industry in all its complexity, splendor, and corruption. A real winner from a legal-thriller master. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Fairstein is on a roll with her Alexander Cooper seriesand it's likely to continue here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

Starred review from June 1, 2012

New York prosecutor Alexandra Cooper (Silent Mercy) quickly returns from visiting her boyfriend, Luc, a restaurateur in southern France, to oversee multiple high-profile cases. The wealthy director of the World Economic Bureau has allegedly raped a maid in a Manhattan hotel. And two murders put Luc at the center of Alex's investigation when the bodies are found with matchboxes from his new Manhattan restaurant in their pockets. As the evidence from the cases becomes increasingly entangled, Alex begins to question her objectivity as well as the viability of her long-distance romance. The lively repartee among her fellow investigators, particularly Mike Chapman and Mike Mercer, provides the levity to break the increasing tension, and Fairstein supplies fascinating details of New York City's restaurant world. VERDICT Fairstein's extensive prosecutorial experience adds authenticity to this thrilling procedural, a tasty souffle of escargots, Beaujolais, cocaine, and murder that will entice the author's many fans. [See Prepub Alert, 2/5/12.]--Jerry P. Miller. Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.