A very interesting story with a lot going on. It seems that nothing is what it appears to be, but the pieces slowly fit together in a way that we don't see until the end. We never know quite what is going on about anything; even the main detective's girlfriend is a mystery. But the book starts out seeming like it's cut and dried as to what happened, except... Well, I don't want to give anything away.

I've lived in the SF Bay Area for 50 years, so it was fun knowing all the places that feature prominently in the book. But it's not necessary, of course, to know the area.

There was just one thing that kind of bugged me. At one point, the detective got an important phone call very late at night, and his cell phone ran out of juice. I don't understand how someone who depends on his phone as much as this guy could not be bothered to plug it into a charger overnight. And if he has trouble remembering, he should carry a spare battery for emergencies. I don't really depend on mine that much, but I still make sure I keep it charged. You never know when something might happen and you really want your phone for some emergency.
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Inspector Cain is called at 2 a.m. while supervising an exhumation by his boss Lt. Nagati who said she was sending a helicopter to speed him off to city hall. No other details. After his arrival, he's sent to the Mayor's chambers where he's asked to investigate a threat and some pictures sent to the mayor anonymously.

Turns out the casket contains the bones of more than one person, and one of them had been put into the casket while still alive. The mayor, meanwhile, denies any knowledge of the person and actions in the photographs, but Cain knows he’s lying, and he suspects that the contents of the casket and the blackmail of the mayor may be connected.

That’s all I’m going to say except that this is an outstanding police procedural, done the way they should be, with interesting characters and a super plot. ( )

This is the first book by this author I have read, and wow! I will definitely search out other books by him.
The premise as it was described on the book sounded good, the mayor of San Francisco, is being blackmailed, and the only way the black mailer will let up is if the mayor kills himself. What I didn't expect was it to be such a police procedural book, but for the first time in a long time the story was told expertly, and not boring or predictably. Even better is the author's writing and the noir atmosphere, the city takes on with the dark clouds, heavy rain, and dense fog.
This is a great murder mystery. ( )

This is a police procedural and it’s a good one. I couldn’t find any fault with the investigation in technique or plausibility (except that there's a less risky way to check if a camera has film in it). Gavin Cain is a good detective. I liked the distinction Moore made between him and Nagata; he an investigator, she an administrator. Later it made her easy to suspect and that was kind of fun, too. Moore portrayed his cops in an even-handed way. Karen Fischer was drawn well and I liked how she and Cain played off each other. It was straight up cop work though, nothing gooey. That was saved for his relationship with Lucy which I really couldn’t stand a lot of. She’s the requisite damaged woman for him to rescue and/or fix. He’s done one and is trying to do the other. She’s annoying and distracting. As much as I liked Cain (and the reappearance of Henry Newcomb from The Poison Artist) I don’t think I’ll follow things if it becomes a series because of Lucy. And what is it with that name? I’ve only met one person named Lucy in my entire life. It’s like Jack and gray eyes - they mostly exist in fiction. ( )

It was the cover of Jonathan Moore's new book, The Dark Room, that initially caught my eye. (Yep, dark and ominous appeals to me.....) I was unaware of Moore as an author before this book, but after reading The Dark Room, I've added him to my list of 'must be read' authors.

Gavin Cain is an San Francisco PD detective. He's attending an exhumation that he hopes will clear one of his cases when he is abruptly pulled away. The mayor need the best detective SFPD has. Why? Well, someone has sent him pictures. Pictures of a woman in - well, let's just say, in danger. The mayor claims not to know why the pics have been sent to him or who the woman is. He just wants the sender found and punished.

Well, Cain will take the case, but he'll solve it on his terms, not the Mayor's. Cain is such a great character - sharp, smart, following his own intuition, somewhat grumpy but determined. But Moore adds a bit more to Cain - his personal life is just as intriguing. His girlfriend is a former crime victim and agoraphobic. An unusual and appealing storyline. Moore gives us a good supporting cast as well - but I was a bit shocked (and disappointed) at the turn things took for one of those characters.

Moore's plotting is fantastic, intricate and detailed. The reader is along for the ride as Cain investigates. I like having no 'insider' knowledge in a police procedural. It's fun to take the pieces given and see if I can figure things out before the final pages. Did I? No, but I sure enjoyed trying.

Those who enjoy a good - really good - police procedural will want to pick up The Dark Room. ( )