It’s just after Labour Day and the city is kicking back into gear. All eyes are on the hotly contested election for Toronto’s next mayor and crime is the big issue. Greene is no stranger to the worst of what the city has to offer but even he is unprepared for what happens next when he stumbles upon a horrific homicide.
In one nightmare moment his world is flipped upside down. Soon he is pitted against his young protégé, Daniel Kennicott, who arrests him for first-degree murder.
Tied down on house arrest as he awaits his trial, Greene has to find a way to not only clear his name but to face some very hard truths: that he didn’t really know the people he believed in most; that there are unseen forces at work prepared to see him take the fall; and most of all, that he should never underestimate the price people will pay for love.
Stranglehold is Rotenberg’s fourth gripping mystery set on the streets and in the courtrooms of Toronto, capturing audiences with his masterful knowledge of the intricacies of the criminal justice system and understanding of the emotions that make people tick.
Ari Greene is a cop and having an affair with Jennifer Raglan, a Crown prosecutor, who is married. For the last six Monday mornings they have been meeting in a seedy motel. This would be the last time because Jennifer was going to leave her husband and they will be together. When Ari arrives at the seedy motel, he discovers her dead. He thinks he sees the killer running away and without thinking, he takes off after him/her.
Daniel Kennicott is the officer in charge of the investigation and, though they are friends and colleagues, he eventually arrests Ari for the murder. What follows is the trial where Ari will either be proven innocent or sentenced to 25 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
This the fourth book by Rotenberg I've read and I enjoyed it. It's the fourth in a series ... I like reading series because we get to know the characters, who I liked. In this book, Ari is fighting for his life while grieving for his lover. Not only has he lost his love but he could also lose his freedom. And during all this, he is still sensitive to not hurting Jennifer's husband and three kids. Though Daniel has arrested Ari, he is torn between being a cop and a friend when he starts to doubt that Air actually did it. Though we don't find out who killed Jennifer until the end, it starts to become obvious whodunnit and it's interesting to find out why.
I like that it's set in Toronto. The author is quite specific in the locations so I know exactly where the action is taking place and have been to a lot of these places. In fact, I had attended a reading by the author in one of the locations mentioned in this book, the Deer Park Library, in September 2011. I've been to the McDonald's at Church/Queen E where Ari seeks out Dent. I've hung out in Daniel's College Street 'hood. I've been to Ireland Park and have seen the sculptures commemorating the tens of thousands who fled Ireland during the Great Famine.
