Library's review
This is the first book in a new series. I picked it up because I won the second series book, Winter Gets Hot, from Early Reviewers. It's a bit uneven and the dialogue, especially between Emily and her lawyer husband Ben, verges on the ridiculous sometimes (they have a habit of calling each other "pal," which is just weird), but the plotting is pretty solid. This isn't a pulse-pounding mystery, as Hamlin seems primarily concerned with getting the depiction of 1970s radio journalism right, but it kept me reading to the end. Emily is an appealing protagonist, although a little underdeveloped as can be typical in a first book. I'll be happy to read the second and see how she and the rest of the series develops.
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Drugs, death and rock and roll on Chicago's AM radio dial...Before dawn in January, 1975, Emily Winter detours from her normal route to work in the newsroom of Chicago's top pop rock station to investigate a crime scene. The police believe the body on the street is a suicide. Emily is stunned to discover that the dead woman is a dear friend since high school. Unable to fathom why Beni Steinart would take her own life, Emily begins an investigation that leads to a trunk-load of cocaine, Federal narcotics charges, abuse of power and a perplexing mystery - suicide or murder?Emily's reporting triggers an explosive battle between two men who tower over their city. Cary Chase is Chicago's most prominent bachelor, a wealthy entrepreneur whose mansion is the epicenter of Chicago's elite society. United States Attorney Tommy "Tommy Terrific" Jameson is ambitiously determined to rid his city of corruption on his way up to the Governor's office and perhaps even higher.Drawing on an eclectic roster of news sources and WEL colleagues and her own considerable talent and determination, Emily uncovers the full story of her friend's death in a remarkable confrontation which produces front page headlines and restores one life as it ruins another.… (more)