Forgotten City: A Claire Codella Mystery

The best skilled nursing facility in New York City is bound to have some famous clients. When former Broadway star and wife of a wealthy banker Lucy Merchant, a sufferer of early-onset Alzheimer’s, is found dead, it seems sad but not shocking. But Merchant’s daughter is not accepting of this death and visits Detective Claire Codella at the police station, providing her with some evidence, including a surreptitiously-obtained video and stained carpet fibers. Codella has been looking for a case to get her back in her game after a bout of cancer and a boss who is not a fan. This could be it. As she pushes the investigation forward, there are plenty of suspects to be checked out. With red herrings aplenty, the mystery is not easy to solve.

Author Carrie Smith is building a franchise with Claire Codella as the centerpiece, and she is a terrific character with a rich, complex backstory. For readers who like police procedurals, this is a good one. The politics of the police department create extra tension beyond the main mystery of the murder to make this a real page-turner. The writing is crisp and the story is solid.