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One of Our Own    by Jane Haddam Amazon.com order for
One of Our Own
by Jane Haddam
Order:  USA  Can
Minotaur, 2020 (2020)
Hardcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

One of Our Own is the thirtieth (and regrettably the last) in Jane Haddam's long running and deservedly popular series starring ex-FBI agent Gregor Demarkian, in the Armenian-American neighborhood of Philadelphia around Cavanaugh Street.

Gregor, now an occasional police consultant, is asked to assist in finding out why an elderly woman, Marta Warkowski, fell out of a speeding black van, wrapped in a garbage bag and close to death. Locals had been suspicious of the van for some time, thinking it held ICE operatives.

As the story opens, Gregor and his wife Bennis have been persuaded to foster a child, Javier, who doesn't seem to speak or understand English. They find it rewarding but are curious about his origins and whether or not the boy is at risk from ICE.

Gregor finds a connection to the real estate holdings of infamous local developer, Cary Alder, and to a financial scam. Alder hires illegals and also rents to them. Then another body is found - the building superintendent in the apartment of the first victim!

It's rather convoluted, and not at all what it seems at first. Gregor sorts it out in the end, while the reader learns a great deal about the precarious lives of illegals (especially unaccompanied minors) and about consequences of tribalism.

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