Murder by Tradition

Kate Delafield Mystery Series, Book 4

By: Katherine V. Forrest

Narrated by: Kate Zane

Young Teddie Crawford is dead from multiple stab wounds in a restaurant kitchen awash with blood. LAPD homicide detective Kate Delafield is relentless in her pursuit and capture of his killer. But bringing that killer to trial imperils Kate's professional standing and personal privacy—and her belief in the justice system to which she has devoted her life.

The suspect claims self-defense—that Teddie Crawford made a homosexual advance and backed it up with a knife. Yet everything Kate learns about Teddie Crawford tells her that his murder was deliberate. And to develop proof of first degree murder, she must find clear answers to mystifying questions for the prosecuting attorney-a woman who has never before prosecuted a homicide case.

Kate is increasingly isolated as she tries to shield her young lover from the brutal realities of this case and finds few allies among her LAPD brethren. Even her partner, Ed Taylor, is loathe to aggressively pursue a case involving a dead gay man and his gay associates. As the trial date looms, she discovers she has a personal stake: the defense attorney is a man from her past. A man with the power to expose the private life she has kept rigidly separate from her life as a police officer.

©1991 Katherine V. Forrest (P)2022 Tantor

WOW

"Just" wow for a well- written, beautifully narrated and moving story. And so relevant in 2022

4

I liked this. A blow by blow police procedural
without all the fooling around. Then a blow by blow prosecution,/ defense trial. So good.

So much has changed

I read this book in 1992, and so much has changed in society the LGB+ community since then. The verbiage, use of slurs, physical descriptions and internalized homophobia of some of the characters are cringe-worthy by today’s standards. But, at the time this was written, this book was progressive. There is still much to be done for equal rights and protections of all LGBTQIA+ humans, people of color, women, et. al. And, it is important to recognize the progress we have made, so far. The fight is not over! I think Kate Delafield needs her own tv series.

Best in the Series So Far for Me

I have enjoyed the series. They seem to be getting better, and out of the the first four, I think this one is the most well rounded, edge of your seat story so far. Night wood is fighting for that position in my brain but have to make hard choices! The series doesn’t disappoint. So glad it has come to Audible.

Riveting and intelligent ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Holy moly this is a scorcher of a well written court room after the crime drama!

The best court room drama I’ve read

Still, I don’t like court room dramas. I always changed the channel after the law section was done in Law and Order. However this is pretty well written although heavy handed at times. It’s about a valiant DA and isn’t about the detective (yawn). It’s an accurate depiction of the feel of the 1980s when the average citizen was grappling with the question of whether or not gay people were actually human citizens. I never doubted that it would go the way it did although it was interesting. It also brought back memories about the time when people didn’t have instant access to recording video. The victim’s social media today would solve the question about whether or not his affect was really as a “queen”