The Investigation by Dorothy Uhnak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"I am very convictable right now [...] People want to convict me of something. After all, I haven't behaved the way 'people' think I should, the way a 'mother' should have reacted [...]"

A very good police procedural, one that might seem a bit dated - the novel was published in 1977 - yet very relevant for today's times because of the underlying theme of 'trying a case in the court of public opinion'. Dorothy Uhnak's Investigation is the first book of this author that I have read but certainly not the last. Amazon's prices for other used books by Ms. Uhnak are exorbitant so it's time to run for the library.

The detectives on the DA's Investigating Squad take a call from the precinct about missing Keeler's kids. Kitty Keeler is a young mother, an attractive woman, married to a middle-aged husband. There is a history of marital problems and of using children as hostages in resolving conflicts between the spouses. The bodies of two kids are soon found; they have been strangulated and shot. Detective Joe Peters leads the investigation.

The procedural thread is totally captivating and very well written. Ms. Uhnak used to work for 14 years as a detective for the New York City Transit Police Department and not only does she convincingly convey the details of police activities but, most importantly, she also portrays the police department politics. Even without the criminal plot it could make great reading:

"Aside for splits based on politics, racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds and specific personality differences, we're just one cohesive team."

But two other themes dominate the novel. Ms. Uhnak paints a compelling psychological portrait of Kitty and manages to make her feel like a real person, not just a character in a plot. She behaves like an actual human being rather than as embodiment of how the majority of people imagine other people should behave. Kitty has a strong and distinctive personality so, obviously, she 'rubs other people' wrong, to use a cliché phrase. The scene of Kitty being interrogated by the detectives is superb. No clichés there!

Finally, perhaps the most important theme of the novel: trying criminal cases 'in the court of the public opinion.' Remember the Casey Anthony's case of 2011 - 2014? It gained wide attention in the media, including social media. Most everybody had their opinion on the issue of guilt or innocence. People devoured hours and hours of TV coverage and basked in the self-satisfied and disgusting glory of being able to judge other people. Were the Kitty Keeler's case to happen now there would be even more coverage, and every single interest group would try to "own" the case with the use of social and other media. Ms. Uhnak's novel offers a warning sign.

In the novel we learn the so-called "truth" about what happened at the end. I could live without the explicit solution since to me it softens the impact of important issues raised by the author. Now, attempting to be facetious: this was 1977 after all, when the existence of truth was implicitly assumed unlike now, in the era of "post-truth." Anyway, a very good novel, highly recommended!

Four stars.


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