It’s 1994. The murder rate in New York City is sky high, and Dana Hargrove’s caseload is soaring. As a top prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office, Dana belongs to an elite cadre on the “homicide chart,” a 24/7 rotation of on-call responders to murder scenes.
Dana is also a young mother, juggling the competing demands of career and home. Her next shift on the chart couldn’t come at a worse time. Distracted by concerns about the live-in caregiver for her two-year-old, Dana barely survives an exhausting week of battles in the courtroom. A surprise witness of dubious credibility has surfaced, threatening to undermine her airtight case against a reputed gang member, on trial for the murder of a rival. In the midst of it all, Dana pulls graveyard shift on the chart and receives a call in the middle of the night, plunging her into a new murder investigation that hits dangerously close to home.
A tragic crime forges the painful intersection of family and career at the center of Homicide Chart. In a dilemma of heart and conscience, Dana is forced to question every choice she’s made about her life and the people she holds most dear.
"By far the best of the ebook originals under consideration is V.S. Kemanis’ Homicide Chart… Besides being a well-written novel with interesting characters and strong narrative impetus, it is a law buff’s delight, with intelligent discussions of unusual legal situations and excellent courtroom combat. … Kemanis is an excellent writer who would be right at home on any major publisher’s list." (Mystery Scene Magazine, No. 138, Winter 2015)
"In the second Dana Hargrove legal thriller from V.S. Kemanis, Dana Hargrove is back in the courtroom as a high profile, New York prosecutor. She's in the midst of a series of murder cases involving gang members, while her husband, Evan, now works at his private law firm and Anneke, the live-in au pair, cares for their son, Travis, at home. Dana and Evan are both hard working parents, trying to maintain a home life that offers escape and peace from their lucrative, busy careers and the difficult cases they often face. Dana is also a member of the unique "homicide chart," a list of people that are on-call to respond to crime scenes and murders at any given time. One night Dana receives a late night call to investigate a murder just as Anneke's mysterious past catches up to her that unwittingly endangers them all. Dana must reevaluate everything she thought she knew and seek answers in a case that strangely hits close to home.
"Kemanis' second novel in the Dana Hargrove series is a page turner, expertly written and well crafted. Kemanis seamlessly juxtaposes Dana's life inside the courtroom and at home against that of the vulnerable Anneke, with her personal and desperate attempt to resolve the issues of her mysterious past. The novel really gains speed in the second half as Dana, bewildered and caught off guard by the events unfolding around her, must delve deeper into a murder case that becomes personal. Deftly plotted with characters that portray real, human emotions, Kemanis is a writer of high caliber worth noting and this is a novel well worth reading. RECOMMENDED by the US Review."
