The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly is not the sort of book one would expect in an Oz collection. But I'd heard there was an Oz connection and picked up a cheap copy, and I'm glad I did! This was a taut, well-written little thriller about Jack McEvoy, a crime/legal journalist, on his way out at the Los Angeles Times, who decides to go out on a high note and write the story of his career. He focuses on a young black man accused of murder who claims he was innocent, and Jack realizes the police's case doesn't hold water. When he discovers a similar case in Las Vegas, he starts connecting the dots and finds out there is a lot more to the murders than anyone suspects. But the murderers — yes, there are more than one — have all kinds of resources on their side as well, and they are not intimidated by McEvoy. The Oz connection is subtle at first — I actually missed the first one — but they start rolling together as the story progresses. (And then there's that title!) Like a lot of stories of this type, there are a few places that rely on coincidence to move the story along, but overall I really, really enjoyed this, even outside of the Oz connection, which surprised me, as I've never been much of a fan for crime/mystery/thriller genre. Maybe if I Can ever get out from under the pile of Oz books I still have to read (ha!), I can read more of these sorts of books.
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