The Black Cage

A little over two years ago the wife of Milo Rigg, Chicago's premier crime reporter, was killed by a random gang-banger's bullet. The murder was never solved. Milo swallowed his grief by obsessing on the murders of three teenaged boys, exposing the systemic incompetence of the resulting investigation, embarrassing local authorities, accumulating twenty-six boxes of notes and files before ultimately losing his objectivity and floundering into his own career ruining scandal. The murder was never solved.

Fifteen months later Milo is working part-time writing uncredited pieces for a lowly suburban supplement, the kind of throw-away paper usually found near the exit doors of a grocery store next to real estate fliers. It would be a stretch to say that Milo is enjoying his banishment but it's an existence if not a living.

Then more bodies start showing up. Murders that may be connected to the original case. And Milo can't help himself, he's back in!

The Black Cage by Jack Fredrickson is a first rate mystery/suspense novel. It's a slow burning page turner. Not fast paced so much as written with a sense of urgency. Things are happening, bad things, dark things, things that need to be stopped - and soon!

The plot unfolds piece by piece. A little bit over here but, hmm, what does that mean? A larger part here but somehow it... just doesn't seem to fit. How is that possible? Until, like a jigsaw puzzle that is jumbled then suddenly snaps into focus when two large sections are joined together, a single connecting piece begins to reveal the big picture. Except, unlike the puzzle on your kitchen table it's not a puppy or a field of daisies... It's a killer.

I highly recommend The Black Cage to anyone who enjoys a good dark mystery. It's very accessible to most all readers. Right at the edge of noir but not quite as gritty or bleak as that label would suggest. I will be at the front of the line for Book Two in the Milo Rigg series, if it's as good as this one I may just stay in line waiting for the third.

There's a bit of strong language, some violence and adult situations. Not enough to stick out in my mind but I know there was some there. Let's just say that The Black Cage contains story appropriate imagery that isn't excessive.

***Thanks to NetGalley, Severn House Publishers, and author Jack Fredrickson for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. Loved it!