A skillfully layered whodunit created by mystery writer Edward Izzi, When a Rook Takes the Queen arrays multiple dirty deeds and numerous potential suspects in the chaotically crime-worn city of Chicago.
The city’s first black, female, and openly gay mayor, Janice Kollar, is tending her garden at home, enjoying a bit of relief from her very public – and at times threatening – job. With constant conflict in city hall and the upsurge of riots and racial tensions, she rarely gets such quiet, contemplative moments. Two cracking sounds spark the air, ending her reflections and her life. Thus Izzi lays the groundwork for a brilliant exposé packed with characters and events that seem to mirror the charged current climate.
There are many possible perps for the heinous murder, but in the rush to find the right one, many threads of intentions shine out from this complex tapestry. Police Superintendent Walter Byron had been vying with Kollar about the use of force in fighting the increasing crime wave, which Kollar believed would beget more violence, while he thought cops should do what cops are trained to do. He appoints Tommy Morton, a veteran, traditionally valued cop, to head the investigation, and in turn invites partners Dorian and Romanowski onto the team: “If the three of them couldn’t crack this case, nobody could.”
There are mobs of every background and self-interest plotting behind the scenes as the circle of the first big splash has its inevitable outward waves. There is even a secret force purportedly seeking the greater good by using dirty tactics, spearheaded by a clever, chess-playing priest, Father Fitz, trying to make good outcomes triumph by enlisting the help and employing strategies of one of Chicago’s most notorious crime magnates, “Little Tony” Di Matteo.
Caught in the eye of the whirlwind is Larry McKay, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, who is getting on the inside, digging deeper. His determination to ferret out facts and share them with the public may be stymied by covert, life-threatening forces. All told, this array of characters are both colorful and realistic, and each player in this complex story is as engrossing as the plot.
Seasoned author Izzi uses two viewpoints in his wide-ranging story – third-person predominates, with descriptions conveying in cinematic flashes the dramas and deeds of the players, both good guys and bad. For the truly human element, Izzi allows McKay to speak in first person, showing him as a man who loves his mother, hates his ex-wife, values but doesn’t always enjoy his journalistic tasks, and may be falling in love against his own better judgment. As the many characters pile up, their activities may at times be tough to follow, but Izzi has it all in hand, with McKay a dynamic focal point.
This well-constructed novel could easily become a film with an empathic central theme of fighting wrong-doing, where right ultimately rises over might, and a twist to the plot in the final pages that begs a sequel.
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