Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein

A series of mazes, dead ends and unfinished passages pulsate about six stories beneath New York City, making the city work. No, this isn’t the subway system, which everyone knows about, but rather Water Tunnel No. 3, pumping billions of gallons a day to New Yorkers.

It is in this subterranean area, with a special work force and an array of secrets, that provides the exciting and unusual backdrop for Linda Fairstein’s ninth novel, Bad Blood.

In each of her nine legal thrillers, Fairstein has taken the reader to a unique part of New York for behind-the-scenes glimpses that even long-time residents and frequent visitors may have missed. This insider’s view of the Big Apple, coupled with superior plots, realistic situations and believable characters, have been the hallmarks of her series.

But Fairstein even outdoes her previous novels in Bad Blood. Utilizing an infrastructure that literally signifies the city’s progress, Fairstein succinctly illustrates the break down of family’s infrastructure. And that has always been one of Fairstein’s strengths — paralleling the inner workings of New York City with the foundations of a family.

In Bad Blood, Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper is handling the case of wealthy businessman Brendan Quillian who is on trial for the murder of his wife, Amanda. The evidence is circumstantial at best; plus a witness’s credibility is destroyed by the defense attorney.

But Bad Blood takes a different spin when a fatal blast occurs in New York’s third water tunnel, which is still under construction. The explosion puts Alex in contact with the “sandhogs,” the workers who for generations have built New York’s underground projects, and points to other violence in the Quillian family. Alex digs deep into the history of the Quillians and New York, as she works with her usual team of insightful detectives, Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace.

Fairstein’s skills at creating briskly paced, realistic situations shine in Bad Blood. Once again, Fairstein excitingly depicts the vagaries of the law, drawn from the author’s 25-year career as a prosecutor and as head of the Sex Crimes Unit of the District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

Courtroom scenes, DNA and forensics enhance the plot as do the bits of New York history and engineering facts — all seamlessly woven into the plot. The scenes in the tunnels are gripping and suspense laden. The tunnels’ nickname of “city of death” is well earned.

Equally compelling is Fairstein’s ability to make intriguing characters come to life. Each outing with Alex gives new insight to this character. The author is careful not to make Alex a super sleuth; she is a prosecutor whose job takes her behind the scenes of crimes but, as in real life, the detectives do the investigating. Alex’s close friendship with the two detectives, and their nightly ritual of watching the final question of Jeopardy bring a texture to Fairstein’s novels.

In a genre crowded with legal thrillers, Fairstein’s affinity for telling stories of New York and its people are a standout.