The third in P.J. Parrish's series featuring detective Louis Kincaid, "Paint it Black", is another suspenseful thriller, which, like the first two, examines race and racism in an interesting and entertaining way.Kincaid, taking time off from official police work after his horrendous experience in Michigan, has been invited to the Florida Keys by former boss and friend, retired Mississippi sheriff Sam Dodie. He isn't invited for rest and relaxation, however. His investigative skills have been requested by the short-handed and old-school police department on the small Gulf Coast community of Sereno Key. A brutal murder of a black man has rocked the small town, and the main suspect is the victim's wife.Reluctantly, Kincaid agrees to stay and help with the investigation strictly on a consultant basis. He is unable to carry a badge or gun, as he is not an employee of the police department nor is he legally licensed by the state of Florida to be a private investigator. When the body of a second black man is found, Kincaid's duties as "consultant" quickly increase. A young female FBI agent is assigned to assist in the investigation. She quickly butts heads with the good ol' boy police chief, and Kincaid, besides leading a serial killer manhunt and investigation, now has to play umpire between two very different schools of thought. Chief Wainwright doesn't buy or like the new-fangled "profiling" psychobabble that Agent Farentino brings to the table. He doesn't get the "new" face of the FBI.Meanwhile, the killer is escalating, becoming more vicious in his killings, and the profile put together by the FBI may not even be accurate. Is the killer a white man? Ninety percent of serial killers are white heterosexual males. Are these racially-motivated hate crimes? Or is, as Kincaid begins to suspect, the killer possibly a black man, acting out some deep-rooted racial self-loathing? Because, sadly, Kincaid knows a little about self-loathing.Parrish succeeds again in creating a fast-paced, twisty storyline that grabs the reader by the throat and also manages to provoke some interesting thoughts on race issues in this country.
Louis Kincaid is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. This third book of the series is my favorite so far. It had some good secondary characters, and an interesting storyline. Louis Kincaid's career as a police detective is in limbo after a bad experience in Michigan. While he is trying to decide what to do next, he is contacted by his former boss from his short stint as a police investigator in Mississippi. Louis agrees to look into a murder case in Florida. Shortly after he arrives, it becomes obvious that the murder was not isolated, but is the work of a serial killer. The local police chief welcomes Louis and uses him as a consultant. Louis must deal with friction between the local police department, sheriff's office, and FBI while trying to determine the identity of the killer. Louis Kincaid is a young detective whose career so far has been rocky. He carries some baggage left from childhood, as well as from his previous experiences as a detective. He is completely dedicated to the cases he works. The third book about him is fast paced and I was quickly caught up in the story. I am looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series.
