After Oline Cogdill reviewed Robyn Gigl’s All We Hide for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, she shared that review with us. You can order a copy of All We Hide through the Webstore, https://tinyurl.com/yupez9ky
Thank you, Oline.
Book review: Transgender detective takes on bigotry and murder in emotional ‘All We Hide’
‘All We Hide’ by Robyn Gigl; Soho Crime; 456 pages; $28.95
Robyn Gigl combines a solid police procedural and an incisive legal thriller in the emotional “All We Hide,” which also works well as an origin story about a transgender woman.
Lauren Kelly is the only transgender detective in Donn County. Her recent promotion as lieutenant, assigned to the Homicide Cold Case Unit at the district attorney’s office, isn’t a reward as much as an exile. With a few exceptions, the department is transphobic, and Lauren meets resistance and dislike from her supervisors, most coworkers and former friends, though she has made a few allies. Fearful of a lawsuit if Lauren were to be fired for being transgender, the department created the unit for her, hoping she will become frustrated with being shuttered into a small office and retire. But Lauren plans to use her new position to find justice.
As her first cold case, Lauren chooses the murder more than 20 years ago of Sherry Darling, a transgender woman whose boyfriend’s conviction in her death was overturned on appeal. Lauren knew Sherry in high school, though they had not been friends. Lauren’s supervisors resent her choice of victim and try to suppress evidence. Despite resistance from the area wealthy and politically connected, Lauren is undeterred.
A conspiracy surrounding Sherry’s murder also leads Lauren to look into the decades-old disappearance of her own
mother. Lauren’s father, a former cop who suffers from Alzheimer’s, also investigated Sherry’s murder. Lauren and her brother, Brian, are close, but have a distant relationship with their father, who kicked Brian out of the house when he came out as a teenager and rejected Lauren when she transitioned. Yet, neither Lauren nor Brian have abandoned their father, who doesn’t recognize either.
The novel is layered with Lauren’s emotional and professional life. Gigl digs deep to show a complete portrait of Lauren, including her close relationship with her ex-wife, her love for her daughter, her strong bond with Brian, the friends who still care for her, and the bigotry she encounters.
“All We Hide” launches a new series for Gigl, who also is transgender. Gigl brings the same perceptive plotting and character development to Lauren’s story as she did to her award-winning four novels featuring Erin McCabe, a transgender attorney.