Julia Dahl came on the mystery novel scene in 2014 with her book Invisible City about the murder of a Chasidic woman and the closed Chasidic community that wants to handle the investigation and subsequent punishment of the perpetrator. It was a welcome change from the routine mysteries that seem to populate that genre.
Her second book, Run You Down received, if my memory serves correctly, lackluster reviews, one of the reasons I didn’t read it.
However, a starred Publishers Weekly review as well as other positive reviews spurred me on to read Conviction, the third book in the Rebekah Roberts, crime reporter, series and it is clearly a case of “What am I missing?”
Amanda Button runs The Homicide Blog, a blog devoted to logging in all homicides in New York. As a result of its notoriety, she gets letter from convicted murders stating that they are falsely incarcerated. But her job is not to investigate cold cases.
In comes Rebekah Roberts, whose well received article about a massacre in American Voice. Wrongful convictions is a hot topic and Rebekah is thinking about writing an article on the subject and Amanda encourages her to look through the letters she’s received. One in particular interests her: a triple homicide from 1992 in which a mother, father and young daughter were shot in the master bedroom of their home.
DeShawn Perkins, the couple’s foster child, then sixteen years old, confessed to the crime and was convicted. He’s served 20 years in jail, all the while saying his confession was coerced, there was no adult in the room with him when he confessed and he did not murder his foster parents. As Rebekah investigates, clues lead her to believe Perkins.
Part I of the book recounts, in flashbacks, Perkins’ experiences with the police leading to his ultimate conviction, alongside Rebekah’s investigation. Part II recounts the murder’s story. (I don’t think I’m spoiling the book by saying that Perkins is innocent—otherwise there would be no story.) Part III is the denouement.
My problem with the book is that the plot seems forced, somewhat implausible, although maybe it isn’t. The connection to the Chasidic community is tenuous and while in Invisible City this connection was a novelty, by now it’s more humdrum. Rebekah Roberts is a nice character, but also a forgettable one. The connection to the mother that abandoned her, which was introduced in Invisible City has a small and unnecessary role in Conviction.
As I said to someone last night, I don’t mind having read Conviction, but had I not read it, I’d be no worse off.
If you’re looking for mysteries that lament the deplorable state of our newspaper industry, as this does, my suggest would be to read Bruce DeSilva’s Liam Mulligan series. It’s got action, wit, criticism and more.
Two Heads Together 
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