A better than average novel by an author new to me. Always nice to find. Tonight’s book is Murder Board, by Brian Shea.

For Michael Kelly, Boston police detective, family comes before everything. For the Rakowskis, a Polish-American crime family, the same rule goes. But they mean very different things by it.

Michael Kelly is a Boston Homicide cop. He’s the rookie on the squad, though he’s been a cop for years. Trouble has followed him, causing him to restart his career more than once. But he thinks he’s where he belongs now.

When a 13-year-old girl’s body is discovered in a shallow grave in a blighted neighborhood, Michael takes a personal interest. He grew up in this neighborhood himself, and still has friends here, on both sides of the law. But the dead girl came from an upscale suburb. How did she end up here? Who killed her, and why?

Searching for answers, Michael, assisted by a (beautiful, of course) female detective from the Sexual Crimes squad, begins a dangerous investigation into the human trafficking industry. Gangsters will threaten them, and politicians will pressure them. But Michael Kelly does not let go.

I found Murder Board an exciting and compelling read. The writing is a little under the top rank – author Shea has a problem with word choice sometimes – but the story itself grabbed me. I’d describe Shea as somewhere between Michael Connelly and Joseph Wambaugh in themes and tone.

Recommended. Cautions for disturbing scenes, but I didn’t notice any obscene language.