Introducing CeeCee Gallagher . . . A Detective You Must Meet

by Robin Sax

I know you may find this hard to believe, but as a prosecutor there are very few mysteries that really knock my socks off. As a matter of fact, I generally loathe reading crime novels—they make me crazy with their pages laced with inaccuracies, distorted reality, and misconceptions. And there is nothing worse, in my opinion, than spoiling my future jury pools with bad or—even worse—wrong information that so many folks soak up in today’s paperbacks.

It is for this reason that I don’t watch Law and Order, CSI, The Closer, or other crime shows. I will say there has been improvement over the years but if I see one more show where the D.A. is an unethical, evidence-hiding, win-at-all-costs jerk, I may puke.

That’s just not how it is. Most cops, prosecutors, judges, and even defense attorneys are simply doing the best job they can with the facts and the cases before them. Prosecutors and police officers are real people with real feelings, cares, worries, and passions, just like defense lawyers and defendants.

And no one, in my opinion, has captured the essence of what someone on the front lines of crime is really like better than Stacy Dittrich has in her heroine Cee Cee Gallagher, whose first appearance is in The Devil’s Closet, which Dorchester Publishing releases this month. (View trailer here.)

Cee Cee Gallagher is a detective at the top of her game. She knows the ins and outs of suspects, crimes, and police work. No matter what the challenge is, Cee Cee not only comes through, but does it with flying colors. But even more impressive than Dittrich’s accuracy is her ability to describe what goes on behind the scenes in police life and investigations.

Drawing from her own professional background and personal experience, Dittrich skillfully explores what it’s like to be a woman and a police officer, raised in a law enforcement family, and dealing with the issues that all women (no matter their field or career) deal with all the time—career pressures, love, family, and fidelity.

Part high crime, part love story, this book was rarely out of my sight from the moment I picked it up until I finished it (less than 24 hours later). Anyone who picks up The Devil’s Closet will want to dive into the next book in the series, Mary Jane’s Grave. It will be out on the stands in June 2009—so long a wait, but so worth it.

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