Books › Grievous Sin
Grievous Sin
736 pages
A tense police procedural where the fragile joy of new life collides with the grim realities of institutional decay and a desperate search.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like walking a tightrope between tender family intimacy and cold, institutional dread. The narrative moves at a brisk, urgent pace, driven by the high-stakes anxiety of a missing newborn and the grim atmosphere of a hospital buckling under financial pressure. It balances the procedural mechanics of a police investigation with the deep, protective bonds of a husband-and-wife detective team facing their own bittersweet personal milestones. The mood is tense and shadowed by vulnerability, making the pursuit of justice feel deeply personal rather than purely professional. It will delight readers who crave mysteries where the emotional weight of family dynamics is just as compelling as the twisted path of the crime itself.
- Mood
- tense
- anxious
- grim
- protective
- Tone
- urgent
- serious
- empathetic
- suspenseful
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- parental anxiety · institutional decay · family bonds · pursuit of justice · bittersweet milestones
- The writing
- Direct and suspenseful, balancing gritty procedural details with intimate, emotionally grounded family dynamics.
- The arc
- Moves from fragile, bittersweet joy into escalating anxiety and protective dread, culminating in a determined pursuit of justice.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love police procedurals that deeply integrate family life, personal stakes, and husband-and-wife partnerships into the investigation.
Content notes
- infant abduction
- infertility and medical complications
- murder
- hospital settings
About the book
The birth of their baby girl has filled Rina Lazarus and her husband, LAPD Homicide Detective Peter Decker, with joy mingled with sorrow, since complications have ensured that they can have no more children. But the situation is grim at the hospital, which has been devastated by severe budget cutbacks and staff shortages. And when a respected nurse vanishes along with a newborn from the nursery, Peter and Rina fear for the safety of their own precious child—especially when the missing nurse's car is found at the bottom of a cliff... with a corpse inside.
A most grievous sin has been committed. In pursuit of justice, Decker—with the help of his tough-as-nails partner, Marge, and an able assist from his teenage daughter, Cindy—follows a twisted path that winds through a sinister maze of hospital politics, misplaced passions, and torturous mind games that can all too easily lead to murder.
Description from Open Library.
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