Since he moved back to his old Philadelphia neighborhood upon retiring from the FBI, Gregor Demarkian has noticed that it's gone from "poor and Armenian" to "rich and Armenian," and he welcomes the recent influx of other nationalities. One of Our Own, the 30th and last of Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian mysteries, is both a curtain call for the series' cast and the author's microcosmic look at melting-pot America.
One night shortly before New Year's Day, a van dumps an oversize garbage bag in the street in Demarkian's neighborhood; inside the bag is an unconscious older woman. The hospital staff finds no ID on the victim--just 15 pieces of Aldergold, a currency exclusive to favored residents of Alder Properties. The woman, who turns out to be neighborhood crank Marta Warkowski, indeed rents her apartment from Alder Properties, which is run by developer Cary Alder, who likens himself to "Donald Trump's mini-me." Demarkian can hardly say no when the city asks him to figure out who did this to Warkowski and why.
Haddam (Blood in the Water), who died in 2019, goes out strong with One of Our Own. The story pays dividends, and its roving perspective gives every player--upstanding citizen and otherwise--a chance to air their entertainingly tetchy views. While Haddam's flair for quippy dialogue seems ready-made for a teleplay, readers will leave the book hearing the interior voices of the characters, several of whom are immigrants trying, with varying degrees of success, to realize the American dream. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer