Seranella, Barbara – AN UNACCEPTABLE DEATH

[LJ Roberts]

AN UNACCEPTABLE DEATH (Amateur Sleuth/Mechanic-Santa Monica, CA-Cont) – VG Seranella, Barbara – 8th in series
Thomas Dunne Books, 2006-Hardcover

“Munch” Mancini is clean, sober, raising her daughter and about to get married to undercover policeman “Rico” Chacón. Rico is killed in a drug bust and Munch told he’d been killed by officers as a duty cop. But Munch doesn’t believe it and, in working to find out the truth, finds herself between two different enforcement agencies and two drug dealers, none of whom seem to care if she survives.

I hate when authors kill off the major love interest. But I do appreciate when the author does it well and the protagonist’s reaction is convincing. Seranella has created great characters in Munch, her daughter Ellen, with excellent and realistic interaction between the two, and Munch’s friend Ellen. I particularly liked that even the villains had balance as characters. The story is well balanced well sorrow, humor, determination and tension. For me, this was one of the better books in the series.