4 STAR REVIEW: UNWITTING ACCOMPLICE by Sid Meltzer

A Kim Barbieri Thriller: Book 1
Publication Date: December 7, 2020

How can a homicide be prevented when it’s still only in some stranger’s head?

Kim Barbieri, a tough, street-smart New York City crime reporter unfazed by male egos and mangled bodies, is sent an anonymous note with a sinister message:

I intend to commit a murder

She doesn’t know who the killer is.

She doesn’t know who his victim will be.

She doesn’t know where, when, and how he will strike.

But there is one thing she does know: If she doesn’t learn to think like a killer, someone’s going to get away with murder.

UNWITTING ACCOMPLICE is a debut novel by Sid Meltzer. It’s the first book in a series and I look forward to seeing Kim in action again as an investigative reporter, but this time in Miami. It’s a psychological thriller told by Kim and the anonymous person who contacts her about a murder he’s planning. She gets sucked into his plot and his thinking and so do we, as the readers.

Kim is good at what she does on staff at the Daily News. She covers a lot of crimes, is always at the police station and the courts, and her current boyfriend, Timothy Brennan, is a captain and the commanding officer of one of the Brooklyn homicide departments. When she’s contacted by more than one letter by the person planning the murder she tries to piece together the answers to the questions, who, what, where, when, and how?  She does a pretty formidable job while also freaking herself out. She only has a few people she trusts with some of the information but will he get caught before or even after executing the perfect crime? We go through his thought processes as well as hers and it’s a little scary how well their scenarios line up. He seems to get a little too cocky at times and was not a likable fellow throughout even when murder and mayhem weren’t front and center. Her relationship with a photographer she was often partnered with, Pete Delaney, was interesting, and each had the other’s back.

There are twists and turns to the story and lots of streets and landmarks mentioned that were recognizable to me since I was born and raised in New York City until moving to another state as a teen. There are vivid descriptions throughout that made me feel like I was there which was not a good feeling at times. I liked Kim’s relationship with her aunt, Brennan, and Delaney. She’s definitely not a pushover. There is nice closure and a surprise twist at the end. There are also hints of what Kim will be up to next. All in all, a satisfying read.

Sid Meltzer took a couple of worthwhile detours on his way to becoming a crime fiction writer.

He started out as an NYS Supreme Court Probation Officer, a job that helped him see things from a criminal’s point of view— and let him peer into their minds’ many dark alleys.

Working with ethically-challenged rascals prepared him well for the caliber of people he met in his next career— advertising. That is where he learned how to craft stories that draw readers in and keep them engaged.

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