The Scarecrow

The Scarecrow
By Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Co., 2009. 419 pgs. Mystery

Jack McEvoy is an excellent journalist--but he's given the boot when the newspaper targets 100 employees to cut their expenses. He goes out on a story about a central LA drug-dealing kid who's been arrested for the murder of young, attractive white woman. One thing leads to another and Jack comes to believe that the kid didn't do it. He decides to make his last newspaper story the best story it can be, that is if the real murderer doesn't take him out in the process. The scarecrow is a criminal mastermind who takes it as a compliment that such a fine investigative journalist is on his trail. But the scarecrow is always several steps ahead of Jack. This gritty, plot-driven story moves along very nicely.

SML