LONG BRIGHT RIVER by Liz Moore

Mickey Fitzpatrick is a Philadelphia cop who shutters each time she gets a call to the scene of a dead woman.  It could be her missing sister, Kacey, who has struggled with drug addiction for years, swatting in abandoned buildings.  Mickey’s life is not an easy one.  Her new partner talks too much, and her boss doesn’t like her.  Mickey’s biggest joy is her young son whose father, also a cop, contributes no support, and whose babysitter routinely falls asleep on the job.  Mickey and Kacey lost their parents when the two girls were children, and their grandmother Gee reluctantly took over the job of raising them.  Gee is emotionally abusive and has to be one of the more despicable grandmothers in modern literature.  Given her lack of parental nurturing, it’s no wonder that Kacey has ended up on the streets.  Mickey is mostly a victim of her own poor judgment of character.  As for the dead women, apparently a serial killer is preying upon prostitutes and junkies.  His identity was fairly obvious to me early in the story, but the big revelation that comes later in the book is not about him.  Let’s just say it’s more of a family matter, and this is primarily a story of a family, rather than a murder mystery.  Mickey’s search for Kacey is admirable, except that she sacrifices almost everything to that quest.  Again, I questioned her judgment and her priorities.  This book is well-written, but it is very dark and gritty.  There is one scene in the neonatal unit of a hospital that is absolutely heartbreaking and almost a little too vivid.  This novel has its uplifting moments, but don’t hold your breath.