Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Broken Places
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Tracy P. Clark
BIRTHDATE: 1961
WEBSITE: https://tracyclarkbooks.com/
CITY: Chicago
STATE: IL
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1961, in Chicago, IL.
EDUCATION:Mundelein College (Chicago, IL; now defunct), B.A.; University of Illinois, Chicago, M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and editor. Works as a newspaper editor.
WRITINGS
Contributor to anthologies, including Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors.
SIDELIGHTS
Tracy Clark is a writer and editor from Chicago, Illinois. She works as a newspaper editor and writes mystery novels.
In 2018, Clark released her first book, Broken Places. In this volume, she introduces the character of Cass Raines. Clark described Cass in an interview with a contributor to the Lesa’s Book Critiques website. She stated: “Cassandra Raines is African-American, thirty-four, lanky, no-nonsense, and absolutely dogged in her determination to fight for truth and justice. She’s happily single, rabidly independent, and a bit of a wiseass. That’s what I like most about her. At twelve, she lost her mother to cancer and her father handed her off to her grandparents. She learned early to rely on her own strengths, follow her own path, and keep it moving. Her grandparents, gone now, left Cass their only valuable possession, their South Side three-flat, which she nurtures and frets over, as though it were a living, breathing thing.” Clark added: “In Broken Places we meet Detective Cass Raines of the Chicago Police Department on the worst day of her life. She’s been shot and lies dying on a rooftop, having killed a young gangbanger in order to save her partner’s life. This event, this nightmare, the weight of the guilt she carries afterward, jumpstarts the story and will resonate throughout the series.” Regarding the setting of the book, Clark told a writer on the Poisoned Pen website: “Chicago is an awesome setting for mystery and crime fiction. Al Capone, John Dillinger and ‘Bugs’ Moran walked our streets. You can still see bullet holes in some of the buildings! Not to glorify the nefarious, but something’s brewing in a town where something like four of the last nine governors have been hauled off to prison for corruption. If you can’t write a story of greed, graft and murder and mayhem set in this town, you haven’t got one in you.” Clark continued: “Chicago is also filled with hardworking, law abiding, salt of the earth citizens who’ve never stolen a nickel in their entire lives … but, frankly, they don’t make for good mystery fiction. Writers go for the underbelly; we laser in on what doesn’t work, not what does, on what stinks to high heaven, not what smells like roses. Chicago, the land of the stinky onions, is fiction gold!”
Broken Places received favorable assessments. “This street-smart first mystery boasts great characterization and a terrific new protagonist,” asserted Connie Fletcher in Booklist. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented: “Distinctive, vividly written characters lift this promising debut. Readers will be eager for the sequel.” A critic in Kirkus Reviews noted: “Clark’s kickoff to an exciting new character-driven series explores the dynamics between a black investigator and a white world in a story ripped from the headlines.” A contributor to the Dru’s Book Musings website remarked: “The author does a great job in the development of this multi-faceted tome and the main characters. She gives us just enough to set the stage in this well-written mystery with visually descriptive narrative that put [the reader] in the middle of all the action. The past seems to converge on the present and that gave this intensifying and intriguing tale enough meat.” A writer on the Lesa’s Book Critiques website opined: “Broken Places is a riveting story, action-packed from the very beginning. But, it’s the fascinating characters that make this book come alive, Cass and her friends.” The same writer concluded: “The mystery field is all the better for the addition of Cass Raines.” A reviewer on the Suspense website suggested: “The author, Tracy Clark, has done a great job with Cass. The woman is … one character that readers will follow whether this turns out to be three books or twenty.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, May 1, 2018, Connie Fletcher, review of Broken Places, p. 21.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2018, review of Broken Places.
Publishers Weekly, April 23, 2018, review of Broken Places, p. 66.
ONLINE
Dru’s Book Musings, https://drusbookmusing.com/ (May 20, 2018), review of Broken Places.
Kensington Books website, http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ (September 11, 2018), author profile.
Lesa’s Book Critiques, https://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/ (May 29, 2018), review of Broken Places; (May 30, 2018), author interview.
Poisoned Pen website, https://poisonedpen.com/ (May 30, 2018), author interview.
Suspense, http://suspensemagazine.com/ (August 21, 2018), review of Broken Places.
Tracy Clark website, https://tracyclarkbooks.com/ (September 11, 2018).
Tracy Clark is a native Chicagoan who writes mysteries set in her hometown while working as an editor in the newspaper industry. She is a graduate of Mundelein College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she earned her MA.
Since reading her first Nancy Drew mystery, Tracy has dreamed of crafting mysteries of her own, mysteries that feature strong, intelligent, independent female characters, and those who share their world. Cass Raines, ex-cop turned intrepid PI, is such a character.
In addition to her Cass Raines novels, Tracy’s short story “For Services Rendered,” appears in the anthology “Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors.”
She is currently writing her next Cass Raines mystery and binge-watching “Game of Thrones”.
TRACY CLARK
SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW BOOKS
ABOUT:
Tracy Clark works as an editor in Chicago. Her fiction has been published in mystery magazines and anthologies. A native Chicagoan, she has never once put ketchup (God forbid) on a hotdog and she likes her pizza deep, not flat. When she’s not editing, reading, writing, living, she’s wandering around Chicago’s neighborhoods scouting out good places to (figuratively) stash a body.
QUOTED: "Chicago is an awesome setting for mystery and crime fiction. Al Capone, John Dillinger and “Bugs” Moran walked our streets. You can still see bullet holes in some of the buildings! Not to glorify the nefarious, but something’s brewing in a town where something like four of the last nine governors have been hauled off to prison for corruption. If you can’t write a story of greed, graft and murder and mayhem set in this town, you haven’t got one in you."
"Chicago is also filled with hardworking, law abiding, salt of the earth citizens who’ve never stolen a nickel in their entire lives … but, frankly, they don’t make for good mystery fiction. Writers go for the underbelly; we laser in on what doesn’t work, not what does, on what stinks to high heaven, not what smells like roses. Chicago, the land of the stinky onions, is fiction gold!"
Tracy Clark, In the Hot Seat
POSTED ON MAY 30, 2018
T Clark
Tracy Clark’s debut mystery, Broken Places: A Chicago Mystery, was just released. You can order a copy of it through the Web Store. http://bit.ly/2xk9YGl
I was lucky enough to have the chance to ask Tracy a few questions, to put her in the Hot Seat. I’m glad she took the time. I hope you take the time to read the interview.
Tracy, would you introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi, readers! I’m Tracy Clark, mystery writer, native Chicagoan, currently sweating the release of “BROKEN PLACES, a Chicago mystery,” my debut novel, the first in a series featuring Cass Raines, former CPD detective turned PI. When not working or writing, or thinking about writing or trying to convince myself I really should be writing, I’m out and about. I love Broadway musicals, old Hepburn and Tracy films, game nights with friends, binge-watching Netflix, and a well-brewed cup of tea … and ginger snaps. I love ginger snaps. Jeez, I sound like I’m a 100 years old. I’m not. Pinky swear.
Tell us about Cass Raines.
Cassandra Raines is African-American, 34, lanky, no-nonsense, and absolutely dogged in her determination to fight for truth and justice. She’s happily single, rabidly independent, and a bit of a wiseass. That’s what I like most about her. At twelve, she lost her mother to cancer and her father handed her off to her grandparents. She learned early to rely on her own strengths, follow her own path, and keep it moving. Her grandparents, gone now, left Cass their only valuable possession, their South Side three-flat, which she nurtures and frets over, as though it were a living, breathing thing. The building is her last tangible connection to the family she’s lost. Luckily, her close circle of steadfast friends has become her new family, and Cass will do anything to protect it. In Broken Places we meet Detective Cass Raines of the Chicago Police Department on the worst day of her life. She’s been shot and lies dying on a rooftop, having killed a young gangbanger in order to save her partner’s life. This event, this nightmare, the weight of the guilt she carries afterward, jumpstarts the story and will resonate throughout the series.
Tell us about Broken Places without spoilers.
Broken Places
A few years out from the rooftop, the scar of the gangbanger’s bullet still visible on her chest, Cass has turned in her badge and has settled in as a PI, taking only work that interests her. Father Ray Heaton, her mentor and father figure, whom she calls “Pop,” comes to her and asks for help in finding the person vandalizing his church and rectory. Though Pop tells her it’s likely just kids breaking windows and turning over garbage carts, Cass suspects he’s holding something back, something far more serious. Cass is proved right when she finds Pop dead inside his confessional, the body of an unknown Hispanic boy lying in a pool of blood on the altar steps. The police too quickly conclude that the deaths are the result of a burglary gone wrong; that the would-be burglar and the priest struggled for the banger’s gun, the boy was shot, and the priest, consumed by remorse, took his own life as penance. But Cass knows differently, because she knew Pop, and a simple vandalism case suddenly gives way to an all-out pursuit to clear Pop’s name and find the person responsible for his death.
Can you tell us anything about Cass Raines’ next case?
Book two is entitled “Borrowed Time.” (Or it is now. The title may change.) A couple of months have passed since Pop’s murder and Cass is slowly regaining her equilibrium, though she still finds herself absently picking up the phone to call Pop before it hits her, again, that he’s well and truly gone. She’s grieving. As the story opens, her one-woman agency is experiencing a bit of a dry spell, so she’s handing out summonses on behalf of a law firm. It’s easy, mindless work, all the work she’s currently up for. That is until she’s asked to look into the death of Timothy Ayers, the scion of a prominent Chicago family, whose body is found floating in Lake Michigan, just yards away from his abandoned yacht. The police peg the case as an unfortunate accident. Tim was drunk, high, and simply slipped and fell overboard. But Jung Byson, the delivery boy at Cass’s favorite diner, believes differently. He tells Cass he knows his friend was murdered and he wants her to prove it. Reluctantly, she signs on, and soon discovers that there were quite a few people with reason to want Tim Ayers dead, including his own brother, that there have been other “accidental” deaths similar to Ayers’, and that her own client has been withholding crucial information and is wanted by the police. She must now find Jung, put the puzzle pieces together, and trap a killer … before he kills again.
Let’s talk about Chicago. Why do you think it’s such a popular setting for mystery and crime fiction?
Chicago is an awesome setting for mystery and crime fiction. Al Capone, John Dillinger and “Bugs” Moran walked our streets. You can still see bullet holes in some of the buildings! Not to glorify the nefarious, but something’s brewing in a town where something like four of the last nine governors have been hauled off to prison for corruption. If you can’t write a story of greed, graft and murder and mayhem set in this town, you haven’t got one in you. The Chicago Way is a thing. It’s a certain swagger, an attitude. It is one greedy hand washing the other, envelopes filled with payoff money slipped into a politician’s hands. Breathe deeply enough and you can practically smell the fear sweat wafting out of City Hall as the Feds reel in the latest pol caught (on tape, no less) with his or her hand in the till. I’ll note here that not all of our elected officials are crooked. We undoubtedly have some very fine, upstanding individuals serving their constituents with honor and integrity. Chicago is also filled with hardworking, law abiding, salt of the earth citizens who’ve never stolen a nickel in their entire lives … but, frankly, they don’t make for good mystery fiction. Writers go for the underbelly; we laser in on what doesn’t work, not what does, on what stinks to high heaven, not what smells like roses. Chicago, the land of the stinky onions, is fiction gold!
If someone comes to visit, where do you take them to show off Chicago?
I avoid the usual tourist stops, unless they specifically ask to see them. I venture into the neighborhoods. Chicago, the city of neighborhoods, has a lot of fascinating spots worthy of a closer look—Pilsen, Greek Town, Chinatown, Bronzeville, the historic Pullman community. Chicago has gotten some pretty negative press lately, but our vibrant neighborhoods–each one distinctive, each one an integral part of the city’s overall makeup—practically crackle with life, ethnic vibrancy and color. You haven’t truly experienced Chicago if you haven’t wandered off the beaten path and gotten down to people level.
In one of my reviews, I said Cass reminds me of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone. What authors have inspired you?
Certainly Grafton; she was a master. I’ll miss Kinsey and her pickle and peanut butter sandwiches. I’ve got a long list of inspirations, including Marcia Muller, Margaret Maron, Sara Paretsky, Susan Dunlap, Nancy Pickard, Karen Kijewski, Eleanor Taylor Bland, Barbara Neely, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, James Patterson, David Baldacci, many, many, many more. I was also a tremendous fan of Robert P. Parker’s Spenser and Sunny Randall series. His writing was so clean, so economical. There are great new writers of color making a mark now, too—Kellye Garrett, Valerie Burns, Danny Gardner, Delia Pitts, just to name a few. I’m reading Garrett’s “Hollywood Homicide” right now. It’s awesome.
What’s on your TBR pile right now?
You mean piles? LOL. So many books so little time. At the moment, there are six books right at the top of pile one. They are “The Romanovs,” by Simon Sebag Montefiore, which I’m itching to get to; Ann Cleeves’ “Harbor Street,” an old Vera Stanhope entry; “Go Down Together,” by Jeff Guinn, about Bonnie & Clyde, (there’s something about these two I cannot get enough of); Lee Child’s “Killing Floor;” “End Game,” by David Baldacci, and “Anything You Say Can and Will be Used Against You,” by Laurie Lynn Drummond. And don’t even get my started on what’s waiting for me on my Kindle.
What did you read as a child? What was your favorite book? Or, if you prefer, who was your favorite character?
My favorites were the Nancy Drew mysteries. When I was around twelve I got my first Agatha Christie novel. I think she wrote more than eighty novels, plays and short stories? I’m pretty sure I got through them all. Christie gave way to Sara Paretsky’s PI heroine V.I. Warshawski, which opened the door up to Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone, Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Karen Kijewski’s Kat Colorado, and so many others. My all-time favorite book, however, the one I read over and over again, is Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s perfect, simply perfect. Scout’s my favorite character.
Name an author or book that you wish had received more attention.
The late Eleanor Taylor Bland. Her Marti MacAlister series about an African-American female detective is awesome, a real pleasure to read. I had the honor of knowing Eleanor. She was a thoughtful, elegant writer.
Thank you, Tracy.
Tracy Clark’s website is www.tracyclarkbooks.com
QUOTED: "Cassandra Raines is African-American, 34, lanky, no-nonsense, and absolutely dogged in her determination to fight for truth and justice. She’s happily single, rabidly independent, and a bit of a wiseass. That’s what I like most about her. At twelve, she lost her mother to cancer and her father handed her off to her grandparents. She learned early to rely on her own strengths, follow her own path, and keep it moving. Her grandparents, gone now, left Cass their only valuable possession, their South Side three-flat, which she nurtures and frets over, as though it were a living, breathing thing."
"In Broken Places we meet Detective Cass Raines of the Chicago Police Department on the worst day of her life. She’s been shot and lies dying on a rooftop, having killed a young gangbanger in order to save her partner’s life. This event, this nightmare, the weight of the guilt she carries afterward, jumpstarts the story and will resonate throughout the series."
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
Interview with Tracy Clark
I may have mentioned yesterday that I was impressed with Tracy Clark's debut mystery, Broken
Places. I jumped at the chance to ask a few questions. I hope you check out the interview. Thank you, Tracy, for taking time to answer questions.
Tracy, would you introduce yourself to the readers?
Hi, readers! I’m Tracy Clark, mystery writer, native Chicagoan, currently sweating the release of “BROKEN PLACES, a Chicago mystery,” my debut novel, the first in a series featuring Cass Raines, former CPD detective turned PI. When not working or writing, or thinking about writing or trying to convince myself I really should be writing, I’m out and about. I love Broadway musicals, old Hepburn and Tracy films, game nights with friends, binge-watching Netflix, and a well-brewed cup of tea … and ginger snaps. I love ginger snaps. Jeez, I sound like I’m a 100 years old. I’m not. Pinky swear.
Tell us about Cass Raines.
Cassandra Raines is African-American, 34, lanky, no-nonsense, and absolutely dogged in her determination to fight for truth and justice. She’s happily single, rabidly independent, and a bit of a wiseass. That’s what I like most about her. At twelve, she lost her mother to cancer and her father handed her off to her grandparents. She learned early to rely on her own strengths, follow her own path, and keep it moving. Her grandparents, gone now, left Cass their only valuable possession, their South Side three-flat, which she nurtures and frets over, as though it were a living, breathing thing. The building is her last tangible connection to the family she’s lost. Luckily, her close circle of steadfast friends has become her new family, and Cass will do anything to protect it. In Broken Places we meet Detective Cass Raines of the Chicago Police Department on the worst day of her life. She’s been shot and lies dying on a rooftop, having killed a young gangbanger in order to save her partner’s life. This event, this nightmare, the weight of the guilt she carries afterward, jumpstarts the story and will resonate throughout the series.
Tell us about Broken Places without spoilers.
A few years out from the rooftop, the scar of the gangbanger’s bullet still visible on her chest, Cass has turned in her badge and has settled in as a PI, taking only work that interests her. Father Ray Heaton, her mentor and father figure, whom she calls “Pop,” comes to her and asks for help in finding the person vandalizing his church and rectory. Though Pop tells her it’s likely just kids breaking windows and turning over garbage carts, Cass suspects he’s holding something back, something far more serious. Cass is proved right when she finds Pop dead inside his confessional, the body of an unknown Hispanic boy lying in a pool of blood on the altar steps. The police too quickly conclude that the deaths are the result of a burglary gone wrong; that the would-be burglar and the priest struggled for the banger’s gun, the boy was shot, and the priest, consumed by remorse, took his own life as penance. But Cass knows differently, because she knew Pop, and a simple vandalism case suddenly gives way to an all-out pursuit to clear Pop’s name and find the person responsible for his death.
Can you tell us anything about Cass Raines’ next case?
Book two is entitled “Borrowed Time.” (Or it is now. The title may change.) A couple of months have passed since Pop’s murder and Cass is slowly regaining her equilibrium, though she still finds herself absently picking up the phone to call Pop before it hits her, again, that he’s well and truly gone. She’s grieving. As the story opens, her one-woman agency is experiencing a bit of a dry spell, so she’s handing out summonses on behalf of a law firm. It’s easy, mindless work, all the work she’s currently up for. That is until she’s asked to look into the death of Timothy Ayers, the scion of a prominent Chicago family, whose body is found floating in Lake Michigan, just yards away from his abandoned yacht. The police peg the case as an unfortunate accident. Tim was drunk, high, and simply slipped and fell overboard. But Jung Byson, the delivery boy at Cass’s favorite diner, believes differently. He tells Cass he knows his friend was murdered and he wants her to prove it. Reluctantly, she signs on, and soon discovers that there were quite a few people with reason to want Tim Ayers dead, including his own brother, that there have been other “accidental” deaths similar to Ayers’, and that her own client has been withholding crucial information and is wanted by the police. She must now find Jung, put the puzzle pieces together, and trap a killer … before he kills again.
Let’s talk about Chicago. Why do you think it’s such a popular setting for mystery and crime fiction?
Chicago is an awesome setting for mystery and crime fiction. Al Capone, John Dillinger and “Bugs” Moran walked our streets. You can still see bullet holes in some of the buildings! Not to glorify the nefarious, but something’s brewing in a town where something like four of the last nine governors have been hauled off to prison for corruption. If you can’t write a story of greed, graft and murder and mayhem set in this town, you haven’t got one in you. The Chicago Way is a thing. It’s a certain swagger, an attitude. It is one greedy hand washing the other, envelopes filled with payoff money slipped into a politician’s hands. Breathe deeply enough and you can practically smell the fear sweat wafting out of City Hall as the Feds reel in the latest pol caught (on tape, no less) with his or her hand in the till. I’ll note here that not all of our elected officials are crooked. We undoubtedly have some very fine, upstanding individuals serving their constituents with honor and integrity. Chicago is also filled with hardworking, law abiding, salt of the earth citizens who’ve never stolen a nickel in their entire lives … but, frankly, they don’t make for good mystery fiction. Writers go for the underbelly; we laser in on what doesn’t work, not what does, on what stinks to high heaven, not what smells like roses. Chicago, the land of the stinky onions, is fiction gold!
If someone comes to visit, where do you take them to show off Chicago?
I avoid the usual tourist stops, unless they specifically ask to see them. I venture into the neighborhoods. Chicago, the city of neighborhoods, has a lot of fascinating spots worthy of a closer look—Pilsen, Greek Town, Chinatown, Bronzeville, the historic Pullman community. Chicago has gotten some pretty negative press lately, but our vibrant neighborhoods--each one distinctive, each one an integral part of the city’s overall makeup—practically crackle with life, ethnic vibrancy and color. You haven’t truly experienced Chicago if you haven’t wandered off the beaten path and gotten down to people level.
In one of my reviews, I said Cass reminds me of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone. What authors have inspired you?
Certainly Grafton; she was a master. I’ll miss Kinsey and her pickle and peanut butter sandwiches. I’ve got a long list of inspirations, including Marcia Muller, Margaret Maron, Sara Paretsky, Susan Dunlap, Nancy Pickard, Karen Kijewski, Eleanor Taylor Bland, Barbara Neely, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, James Patterson, David Baldacci, many, many, many more. I was also a tremendous fan of Robert P. Parker’s Spenser and Sunny Randall series. His writing was so clean, so economical. There are great new writers of color making a mark now, too—Kellye Garrett, Valerie Burns, Danny Gardner, Delia Pitts, just to name a few. I’m reading Garrett’s “Hollywood Homicide” right now. It’s awesome.
What’s on your TBR pile right now?
You mean piles? LOL. So many books so little time. At the moment, there are six books right at the top of pile one. They are “The Romanovs,” by Simon Sebag Montefiore, which I’m itching to get to; Ann Cleeves’ “Harbor Street,” an old Vera Stanhope entry; “Go Down Together,” by Jeff Guinn, about Bonnie & Clyde, (there’s something about these two I cannot get enough of); Lee Child’s “Killing Floor;” “End Game,” by David Baldacci, and “Anything You Say Can and Will be Used Against You,” by Laurie Lynn Drummond. And don’t even get my started on what’s waiting for me on my Kindle.
What did you read as a child? What was your favorite book? Or, if you prefer, who was your favorite character?
My favorites were the Nancy Drew mysteries. When I was around twelve I got my first Agatha Christie novel. I think she wrote more than eighty novels, plays and short stories? I’m pretty sure I got through them all. Christie gave way to Sara Paretsky’s PI heroine V.I. Warshawski, which opened the door up to Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone, Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Karen Kijewski’s Kat Colorado, and so many others. My all-time favorite book, however, the one I read over and over again, is Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It’s perfect, simply perfect. Scout’s my favorite character.
Name an author or book that you wish had received more attention.
The late Eleanor Taylor Bland. Her Marti MacAlister series about an African-American female detective is awesome, a real pleasure to read. I had the honor of knowing Eleanor. She was a thoughtful, elegant writer.
I’m a librarian so I always end with this question. Tell me a story about a library or librarian in your life.
I love libraries. I love the smell of books. My first summer job in high school was in a library. Best job ever, by the way. I was a book stacker, a fast book stacker. The faster I stacked, the more time I had to read something in a quiet corner. That summer I went through a George Bernard Shaw phase. Oh, I still had a Christie novel stuffed in my back pocket, but after all my books were back where they needed to be, I blazed through “Pygmalion,” “Major Barbara,” “Saint Joan,” “Man and Superman.” The play’s the thing, right? Again, best job ever. Just the word library makes me happy. When I got to college the library was huge. I nearly did that happy dance Snoopy’s known for. A quiet carrell overlooking the lake quickly became my favorite spot on campus. (Sigh) I wonder who’s sitting there now.
Thank you, Tracy.
Tracy Clark's website is www.tracyclarkbooks.com
QUOTED: "This street-smart first mystery boasts great characterization and a terrific new protagonist."
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534207362331 1/3
Print Marked Items
Broken Places
Connie Fletcher
Booklist.
114.17 (May 1, 2018): p21.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Broken Places.
By Tracy Clark.
June 2018. 352p. Kensington, $26 (9781496714879); e book, $12.99 (97814096714893).
The title gives a hint to the depth of this debut PI novel. The Chicago Police Department lost one of its best
homicide detectives, African American Cass Raines, after a shootout in which two bullets lodged near her
aorta, nearly killing her and definitely weakening her arm and breaking her spirit. Now she works as a
private investigator where she lives, in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood, an area itself filled with broken
places. A strong feature of this book is that Cass is fully embedded in her community, giving her extra
insight into what goes down there. The focus here is on what's happened in a church, where Cass' longtime
mentor and chess buddy, Father Ray Heaton, has asked her to investigate a fire and break-in. Then Cass
finds the community-activist priest shot to death in the confessional, and the body of a teen lying before the
altar. While Clark tends to be a bit overexpansive with her descriptive passages, this street-smart first
mystery boasts great characterization and a terrific new protagonist. Get this writer on your radar now.--
Connie Fletcher
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Fletcher, Connie. "Broken Places." Booklist, 1 May 2018, p. 21. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539647189/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8b19d468.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A539647189
QUOTED: "Distinctive, vividly written characters lift this promising debut. Readers will be eager for the sequel."
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534207362331 2/3
Broken Places: A Chicago Mystery
Publishers Weekly.
265.17 (Apr. 23, 2018): p66.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Broken Places: A Chicago Mystery
Tracy Clark. Kensington, $26 (352p) ISBN 9781-4967-1487-9
Cass Raines, the intelligent, perceptive narrator of Clark's unforgettable first novel and series launch, runs
her own one-woman detective agency in Chicago. A former Chicago PD detective, Cass left the force after
being shot during a confrontation with an armed suspect two years earlier. Soon after her old friend Fr. Ray
"Pop" Heaton asks her to look into a vandalism incident at his church, she discovers him shot to death in the
confessional. Near the altar lies the body of a young man wearing gang colors. The self-assured yet
incompetent police detective assigned to the case sees this one as quickly closed. Since Cass owes so much
to Pop, who helped her grandparents raise her after her mother died, she decides to investigate on her own.
While Cass is busy fighting for justice in her neighborhood, she may also have a little time for a policeman
she admires, a certain Detective Weber, who's separated from his wife. Distinctive, vividly written
characters lift this promising debut. Readers will be eager for the sequel. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan
Marshall Agency. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Broken Places: A Chicago Mystery." Publishers Weekly, 23 Apr. 2018, p. 66. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532887/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f1a85d63.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532887
QUOTED: "Clark's kickoff to an exciting new character-driven series explores the dynamics between a black investigator and a white world in a story ripped from the headlines."
8/13/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1534207362331 3/3
Clark , Tracy: BROKEN PLACES
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Clark , Tracy BROKEN PLACES Kensington (Adult Fiction) $26.00 5, 29 ISBN: 978-1-4967-1487-9
Nothing can deflect a private investigator from finding the killer of her surrogate father.
Cass Raines was a cop until she and her partner, Detective Ben Mickerson, were almost killed in an incident
they had under control until James Farraday, a glory-seeking cop with a lot of clout in the Chicago PD,
rushed in and precipitated a gunfight. Raised by her grandparents after her mother died and her father took
off, Cass was one of the few African-American women on the force, and she has no tolerance for bullshit.
After leaving the force, she hung out her shingle as a private eye. Still wracked with guilt over her inability
to prevent Farraday from killing a kid who was about to surrender, she happily works small cases for small
money. When Father Raymond Heaton, whom Cass calls Pop, and a gangbanger are found shot dead in St.
Brendan's Church and Farraday catches the case, Cass is determined to find the truth instead of accepting
Farraday's pat answer that Pop killed the kid in a struggle and then killed himself out of guilt. Pop, an
activist priest who supported righteous people and causes, had made quite a few enemies but was always
giving second chances to even the worst of them. Although his housekeeper, Thea Bey, is no gossip, she
gives Cass the names of several people she knows have recently tangled with Pop. Ben Mickerson, who's
also on the case, warns Cass to leave it to the police and then passes her information that may help her. Her
search takes her deep into gang territory and off on a wild chase after a mentally disturbed homeless man
she believes witnessed the murders. She knows she's getting close when she becomes a target of the killer,
but will she survive to solve the mystery?
Clark's kickoff to an exciting new character-driven series explores the dynamics between a black
investigator and a white world in a story ripped from the headlines.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Clark , Tracy: BROKEN PLACES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530650863/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=aea8670c.
Accessed 13 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530650863
QUOTED: "The author does a great job in the development of this multi-faceted tome and the main characters. She gives us just enough to set the stage in this well-written mystery with visually descriptive narrative that put [the reader] in the middle of all the action. The past seems to converge on the present and that gave this intensifying and intriguing tale enough meat."
My Musing ~ Broken Places by Tracy Clark
May 20, 2018
Broken Places by Tracy Clark is the first book in the NEW Chicago” mystery series featuring Cass Raines, private investigator. Publisher: Kensington Publishing, coming May 29, 2018
Former cop Cass Raines has found the world of private investigation a less stressful way to eke out a living in the Windy City. But when she stumbles across the dead body of a respected member of the community, it’s up to her to prove a murderer is on the loose . . .
Cops can make mistakes, even when they’re not rookies. If anyone knows that it’s Cass Raines, who took a bullet two years ago after an incompetent colleague screwed up a tense confrontation with an armed suspect. Deeply traumatized by the incident, Cass resigned from the Chicago PD, leaving one less female African-American on the force. Now she’s the head of a one-woman private investigation agency, taking on just enough work to pay the bills. She spends the rest of her time keeping an eye on the tenants in her little Hyde Park apartment building, biking along the lakefront, and playing chess with the only father figure she’s ever known, Father Ray Heaton.
When Father Ray asks Cass to look into a recent spate of vandalism at his church, she readily agrees to handle the case. But only hours later she’s horrified to discover his murdered body in the church confessional, a dead gangbanger sprawled out nearby. She knew Pop, as she called him, had ticked off plenty of people, from slumlords to drug dealers and even some parishioners and politicians, with his uncompromising defense of the downtrodden. But a late-night random theft doesn’t seem like much of a motive at a cash-strapped parish like Saint Brendan’s.
The lead detective assigned to the case is all too ready to dismiss it as an interrupted burglary gone awry, just another statistic in a violent city. But Cass’s instincts tell her otherwise, and badge or no badge, she intends to see justice done . . .
Purchase Link
This fast-paced, action-packed drama pulled me in immediately, especially the opening scenes where I had to know what was going to happen next. The outcome of that intense situation spurs the consequences of where it takes our heroine in this forthcoming novel. I like Cass Raines and the author portrays her in a way that makes me feel sorry for her, but also, I want to tell her to buck up and do what you have to do to survive, make it on your own and enjoy what life has to offer. Hard when one runs a one-woman private investigation firm and take on a personal case when her beloved priest is murdered. Taking on her arch enemy, we watch Cass traverse the line between being an ex-cop having to tow the line and not having to tow the line and that’s where this riveting drama takes hold and I’m along for a grippingly wonderful ride that I did not want to get off.
The author does a great job in the development of this multi-faceted tome and the main characters. She gives us just enough to set the stage in this well-written mystery with visually descriptive narrative that put me in the middle of all the action. The past seems to converge on the present and that gave this intensifying and intriguing tale enough meat to keep me enthralled as I had to know how this will end. With plenty of potential suspects, it was the clues that the author planted that kept me following along with Cass as the closer she got, the more involved I’ve became as the reader, and when the pieces fell into place, there was only one person left standing. What a great book and I look forward to more exploits with Cass and her circle of friends.
**********
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
QUOTED: "Broken Places is a riveting story, action-packed from the very beginning. But, it's the fascinating characters that make this book come alive, Cass and her friends."
"The mystery field is all the better for the addition of Cass Raines."
TUESDAY, MAY 29, 2018
Broken Places by Tracy Clark
Tracy Clark's debut mystery, Broken Places, is one of the best books I've read this year. Her story of a tough African-American cop turned private investigator reminds me of one of the legendary detectives in modern mysteries, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone.
Cass Raines was a Chicago cop until the day Farraday, a colleague and menace, messed up when Cass was trying to talk down a young armed suspect. Farraday's incompetence forced Cass to kill the suspect, and she was shot. Now, two years later, she's on her own as a private detective. Despite her lack of family, though, Cass is not really alone. She's cobbled together an unusual group of friends, including the priest, Father Ray Heaton, Pop, who stepped in when her own father deserted her after her mother died. But, when Pop shows up unexpectedly, saying he needs a detective, she's angry. He hadn't revealed the problems he was having. He's being followed. There's been vandalism around the rectory and church. He's worried now. And, Pop has a reason to worry. Although she was only following his wishes, Cass blames herself when Pop and a gangbanger are found shot in the church.
But, Cass couldn't be angrier when Farraday, who caught the case, thinks he can easily wrap it up with the statement that Pop must have caught the gangbanger stealing from the church, shot him, and, then, in a fit of remorse, shot himself. Cass knows better. And, if she has to call in favors, and round up friends to help, she will. Cass is the one who does the legwork and hard lifting though. She's determined to find the truth, even if Farraday thinks he already knows it. It's a case that will send her into dangerous territory in Chicago, but Cass won't let down the man she called Pop.
Broken Places is a riveting story, action-packed from the very beginning. But, it's the fascinating characters that make this book come alive, Cass and her friends.
Cass Raines appears to be a loner, but she's a loyal, trustworthy friend. Broken Places is successful in launching the detective career of this tough, gutsy woman. But, she's admirable as a character because she's also vulnerable, although she would never admit it. She has empathy for the vulnerable - a four-year-old, a homeless man, gangbangers. And, her shock and suspicion when her actual father turns up is natural for a woman who pretends to need no one. On the other hand, she's loyal to her childhood friends, whether they're ex-cons or a former troublemaker turned nun. The mystery field is all the better for the addition of Cass Raines.
Tracy Clark's website is www.tracyclarkbooks.com
Broken Places by Tracy Clark. Kensington. 2018. ISBN 9781496714879 (hardcover), 352p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure - I received the book to review for a journal.
QUOTED: "The author, Tracy Clark, has done a great job with Cass. The woman is ... one character that readers will follow whether this turns out to be three books or twenty."
POSTED BY: ADMINISTRATOR AUGUST 21, 2018
BROKEN PLACES
By Tracy Clark
It’s always exciting to see a debut novel, and this was not only exciting to see, it was amazing to read. This first Chicago Mystery focuses on a former policewoman by the name of Cass Raines, and is being touted as the first of three.
Cass loves the Windy City but decided she could alleviate some of the stress in her life if she walked the path of a P.I. instead of her ultra-tense role as a cop. Her decision also came about because of the bullet she had to take when a colleague completely botched a confrontation with an armed suspect.
Affected badly, Cass resigned and is actually having a far easier life being a self-employed woman who, although she still searches for justice, only has to rely on herself to get the job done and done correctly. The rest of the hours in her day are filled with watching over friends and tenants in her apartment building in Hyde Park, and playing chess with Father Ray Heaton who is a truly supportive parental figure for Cass.
She cares for him so much that Cass doesn’t think twice when Father Ray asks her to help him find out who has been vandalizing his church. Seems like an easy one to solve, but unfortunately for Cass, she walks into the church only to find a murder victim in the confessional and the dead body of a known gangbanger close by.
Cass knows this area around Saint Brendan’s and is not quick to jump on board with the lead detective’s belief that this was simply a burglary gone wrong, so Cass sets out on a determined path to unearth the real killer and solve the crime herself.
The author, Tracy Clark, has done a great job with Cass. The woman is a spitball of fire, as my own grandmother used to say, and one character that readers will follow whether this turns out to be three books or twenty.