Still wrestling with the physical, mental and emotional fallout of a recently concluded case, LAPD Homicide Detective Charlotte Justice has mixed feelings when a missing suspect in a stalled investigation suddenly reappears. Hoping that the case will prove more of a distraction than a burden, Justice begins to pursue the case once more, only to find out that its complexities, and its unexpected links to the death of her husband and child some thirteen years prior, may make it more than she can handle.
Masterfully combining action, character development, suspense, and mystery, Woods has delivered a worthy successor to her first three Charlotte Justice novels. Sporting straightforward, unadorned, yet utterly arresting prose, Strange Bedfellows chronicles a pivotal point in Justice's personal life and career, as she's forced to deal with the tumult in her stressful day-to-day existence, arising from both past and present circumstances.
A thoughtful police procedural, the book stands out because it's dramatic without being melodramatic, unlike recent entries in other popular, long-lived series. This could come from Justice's utter lack of pretension, or from her tendency to react to, rather than ruminate over, the things that are happening around her. Either way, it's a happy circumstance for readers--the lack of histrionics is refreshing and welcome. It's this, and Woods' evocation of the racially charged 1994 Los Angeles, that make Strange Bedfellows a compelling read.