Hammurabi's Code - Hardcover

Smart, tightly written and full of compelling background details, Kenney's debut earns a place near the head of the crime fiction pack. The story begins with the murder of Philip Stewart, Boston city councilman and a political icon with an unblemished reputation as a do-gooder for the down-and-out and the patron saint of a variety of liberal causes. When the Post calls on ace investigative reporter Frank Cronin to delve into the seemingly dead-end case, his efforts gradually reveal Stewart as a plaster saint whose dealings ranged from extortion to laundering mob money. The full extent of the corruption, however, isn't disclosed until the novel's shocking finale, which links police, press and politicians in a tangled web of urban payback and political retribution. Kenney, a Boston Globe reporter, makes splendid use of his insider's knowledge of the local political and journalistic scene to flesh out his plot and characters, while he sure-handedly uses flashbacks and occasional red herrings to build suspense. Despite minor shortcomings (the intrusion of stilted headline jargon, a mawkish subplot involving a rekindled romance), Kenney maintains a gripping level of tension; his mastery of the form marks him as a talent to watch.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The murder of a well-liked Boston councilman, Philip Stewart, sets off a series of damning articles by a respected reporter in the local newspaper. The paper's editor is hounded by the Kennedys and by religious leaders who feel that the councilman's reputation, as a protector of the homeless and general do-gooder, should be kept sacrosanct. Gazette reporter Cronin obviously feels otherwise and continues pursuing evidence of corruption in state and federal records and pressing his main source, a homicide cop named McCormack, for more information. The significance of Kenney's title does not become clear until near the novel's end; so cleverly does he entangle the reader in the story line about a murder victim's purported dark side that the question of who committed the murder is almost secondary until the two issues become inextricably linked. This is an excellent first novel by a Boston Post reporter who, hopefully, will write more about his city, its politics, and journalists. Denise Perry Donavin