Let the Devil Out: A Maureen Coughlin Novel    by Bill Loehfelm Order:  USA  Can Picador, 2017 (2016) Hardcover, Softcover, Audio, e-Book      Reviewed by Barbara Lingens Maureen, a female beat cop in New Orleans, has lots of baggage and is barely hanging on to her job. Fortunately, she has a sharp and understanding duty sergeant. He gives her permission to 'let the devil out' one more night before she returns to work. This gives us a chance to see how complicated a person she is. The site of the story, New Orleans, has none of the stereotypical scenes we usually encounter. Here we are in the underbelly with lots of murky characters, the most privileged of whom always have iron-clad alibis. One of the more disturbing elements of the story is how common it is for police to be on the take. Maureen ruminates on all of this and on her life, past and present, while smoking cigarette after cigarette. Her thoughts on what power is and how it gets played with take the novel up several notches from a standard police yarn. Maureen's passion for her job and her habit of making very risky moves keeps us turning the pages to find out how (and whether) she will live through her last one. It sounds like we will be hearing more from her, and that is a good thing, but I'm hoping she'll quit smoking. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews