Edgar finalist Kathleen Kent (The Outcasts) launches an explosive finale to her trilogy about Detective Sergeant Betty Rhyzyk with The Pledge, which melds a thrilling police procedural with a complicated home life.
The Pledge has barely begun when Kent shows her solid, thoughtful approach to action with Betty pitted against two drug cartels. Betty's clearance rate as a detective with the North Central Dallas Police Department has brought many criminals to justice, but also generated enemies. The drug cartels are led by Evangeline Roy and her rival El Cuchillo, also known as "The Knife," and each wants Betty to eliminate the other.
At home, Betty and her wife, Jackie, are caring for seven-month-old Elizabeth, whose teenage mother, Mary Grace Miller, had been living with the couple before she abruptly disappeared. Worried about Mary Grace's safety and Elizabeth's future, Betty and Jackie hire a private investigator specializing in finding underage runaways. The couple's concern grows when Mary Grace's stepfather, a wealthy real-estate tycoon whose penchant for young girls has resulted in several lawsuits settled privately, also begins looking for the teenager. He's especially interested in the baby.
Kent meticulously juggles plot threads while delving into the intelligent Betty's appealing personality. Betty worries how her recent promotion will affect her close relationship with her squad, and if she is ready for this next level of her career. She and Jackie's strong marriage further elevates The Pledge. Readers will miss Betty, but Kent has done justice to her character's swan song. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer