The Whites by Richard Price **** (of 4)

New York City's detective squad is a cobbled together band of blue-collar brothers and sisters who have to chase down gang bangers, drug deals gone wrong, hold-ups at Korean grocery stores, muggings on subway platforms, lovers quarrels turned deadly, and squabbles between simmering neighbors that end with razors, knives, bats, and guns.  In short, its nasty work and the lead detective in this story, Billy Graves, is working the midnight shift when most of the worst stuff happens, and even when it doesn't it sure feels that way as the fatigue of working night after night takes its toll.

A "White" is the criminal known by the detective to have definitely committed the murder, but who walked free on some technicality and forever lives under the skin of the detective determined to finally capture his or her perp.  After twenty years on the squad all of Billy's teammates have a white they can't let go of.

Patrick Anderson of the Washington Post captured my sentiments about this book. "It’s a compelling plot, yet the real joy of the book lies page by page, line by line, in its brilliant characterizations, rich detail, endless surprises, crackling dialogue, absurdist humor and panoramic portrait of endless crime breaking over the city like a tsunami."

To which I have to add that the reader of the audiobook, Ari Fliakos, brought to life every character with deft expertise and distinction.  Neighborhood accents were lovingly distinguished and every person from a six-year-old with a water balloon to a beleaguered Italian housewife blossomed into a life fully realized.