law-enforcement, immigrants, murder, murder-investigation, family-dynamics, friendship, intolerance*****

I have no idea why I haven't kept up with Demarkian for the last six years, but I was excited to see one on offer from NetGalley. But. I was sad to see that the author was assaulted by a virulent form of Breast Cancer and that this is the last one that she wrote. At least we have all the others to go back to and can see the list on https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/
Now then. Demarkian is retired FBI with a degree in accounting and is currently on board as a consultant to the Philadelphia PD on an apparent attempted murder. He had happened to be close by the parish church on a private errand involving the fostering of a 7 year old traumatized boy who spoke no English (but understood much) and, apparently, a rescue dachshund. What was immediately known is that a large leaf bag containing a battered older woman who lived nearby fell out of a sinister big black van which had recently been cruising the ethnically changed neighborhood. No ID and in a coma, but once identified and residence located, a dead body with no face was found in her flat. Now comes a very complex investigation involving ethnic neighborhoods, legal and clandestine immigrants and the attitudes and prejudices that they have as well as the ones they face (including Demarkian himself). An excellent tale as a mystery and as a reminder to all of us whose parent, grands, and greats came here from wherever to face the unknown.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

This is a final book in the series. I haven’t read any of the other titles. That’s unfortunate: I’m sure I missed a great deal of nuance in the story. There’s quite a bit of reference to earlier novels and some of that confused me. Even so, Haddam gave enough contextual clues that I was able to work out some of the characters’ past interactions.

While a big part of the actual mystery didn’t interest me, the characters did. That kept me reading. Characters like Bennis, Gregor’s wife, and the priest, Gregor’s old friend, intrigued me. Tommy, a young teen, struggles in his relationship with his surrogate father, now jailed for murder. Sister Margaret Mary fears ICE raids (as most of the residents in the Hispanic neighborhood do) and I could understand and feel the fear an unmarked van sparked throughout the area. Pickles the overdressed dog made a terrific addition to the cast.

Some characters I rooted for; others I rooted for their downfall. But they were always believable. Even the unsympathetic ones, such as Marta (who refuses to give up the apartment that’s been in her family for generations) or Meera (always infuriated by Americans), sparked an emotional response. Even when I didn’t have a clue what was happening, I was apprehensive about what lay ahead for these people.

As the book went on, the conflict became clearer. It never felt very intense. While I never understood why the police would consult with Demarkian–he seems in their way–I did like how he investigated. While nothing in the book stood out as exceptional, One of Our Own is still a good mystery.

The book ends on a hopeful note. It’s a bittersweet but fitting farewell, I think, to a beloved series, and I feel confident that the characters will live on in readers’ imaginations.

When Haddam wrote this book, she was dying of cancer. In a sense, this is her goodbye to her supportive fans. They are probably the best judges of the quality of One of Our Own, not me.

The book is probably best for fans of the Gregor Demarkian series. Even so, I enjoyed it.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own. ( )

It had appeared that Fighting Chance (2014) would be the last Gregor Demarkian book, especially after author Jane Haddam died last year. But here is one more, released posthumously by her son. It's a fitting ending, even managing to put the awfulness of the previous book into perspective. (Fighting Chance was as well-written as the others, but it seemed like a betrayal of several established characters. I had been pretending that it didn't exist.)

Gregor is getting tired, but agrees to investigate one last case, the death of a woman seemingly tied to a sleazy real-estate developer. Meanwhile, he and Bennis have taken in a foster child, a Hispanic refugee.

Well-written, with good characterizations, and the usual social conscience. The mystery itself isn't really the focus here, but it's nicely puzzling all the same. ( )