DRINK TO EVERY BEAST

An environmental lawyer works a case involving the deaths of two teenagers from mysterious chemicals in this debut thriller.

In Mike Jacobs’ few years at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, his boss has assigned him lousy cases. Now he’s finally second-chairing something substantial: the sudden deaths of teens Peter Mason and Cindy Battaglia. The young couple swam in a river that’s evidently a dumping site for chemicals; phenol exposure is ultimately what proved fatal. As Mike searches for the culprit responsible for illegal dumping, his personal life gets significantly more complex. He begins casually dating two women: Sherry Stein, a deputy attorney general, and Patty Dixon, a nurse at the home where his sickly mother resides. Both relationships become more serious, and Mike struggles with his choice of committing to one and severing the other. Meanwhile, Mike receives a phone call warning him off his investigation and is completely unaware that a certain car is regularly following him. And with a gubernatorial election on the horizon, powerful individuals have their eyes on the unfolding case. The incumbent governor wants to use the tragedy against his opponent, District Attorney Gerald Sheehan, who’s cooking up his own sinister scheme. Burcat packs his story with enthralling subplots and characters. Mike, for example, has phone conversations with his rabbi brother concerning their mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s, and gets relationship advice from first chair Roger Alden. Likewise, the women are multidimensional: Sherry is investigating Sheehan’s possibly crooked campaign funds, and Patty is a single mom with an ex-boyfriend who won’t pay child support. They’re likable as well, making indecisive Mike a less than stellar protagonist who can’t even decide if his actions are honest or dishonest. Despite a solid setup and intelligent prose, the environmental-themed mystery gradually reaches a conclusion with little input from Mike. Readers may be more invested in the inevitable confrontation between Sherry and Patty, and in that regard, the story doesn’t disappoint.

A sufficient legal mystery but the protagonist’s complicated love life steals the show.