The Right Jack

The Right Jack follows Lieutenant Sigrid Harald of the NYPD as she investigates a bombing at a Manhattan bridge club that killed three people. The case leads her into the competitive world of professional bridge players, where tensions and rivalries run deep beneath the surface of proper gameplay. Harald must navigate both the technical intricacies of bridge tournaments and the complex relationships between the victims and suspects. Her investigation is complicated by pressure from above to solve the case quickly and the reluctance of the bridge community to fully cooperate with law enforcement. The story weaves police procedural elements with insights into the culture and characters of New York's bridge scene in the late 1980s. The novel examines themes of obsession, ambition, and the facades people maintain in both their professional and personal lives.

Readers found this to be a solid but unremarkable entry in the Sigrid Harald series, with reviews noting it maintains the quality of previous books without breaking new ground. Readers appreciated: - Accurate portrayal of police procedure and newsroom operations - Complex relationships between characters - Details about the New York art world - Integration of bomber investigation with personal storylines Common criticisms: - Slower pacing than other books in the series - Less character development for Sigrid - Plot twists that some readers saw coming - Too many side characters to track Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (281 ratings) Amazon: 4.1/5 (32 ratings) Notable reader comments: "The newsroom scenes ring true" - Amazon reviewer "Less engaging than earlier Harald mysteries" - Goodreads review "Good procedural detail but lacks emotional punch" - LibraryThing user

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🔍 Author Margaret Maron worked as a newspaper reporter before becoming a novelist, giving her valuable insight into the investigative techniques she portrays in her books. 📚 "The Right Jack" is part of the Sigrid Harald series, featuring a female NYPD lieutenant at a time when few crime novels had women in leading law enforcement roles. 🎨 The book's plot centers around a bombing at an art gallery, drawing from Maron's extensive knowledge of the New York art scene, which she gained while living in Brooklyn. 🏆 Margaret Maron won the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Agatha Award, and the Macavity Award during her career, establishing her as one of the premier mystery writers of her generation. 🗽 The novel's detailed descriptions of New York City in the late 1980s serve as a historical snapshot of the city's culture and atmosphere during that period.