Rent Hard Bargain (Cat Marsala)

Barbara D'Amato's books about freelance Chicago journalist Cat Marsala celebrate the quaint idea that what somebody writes in a newspaper or a magazine can have some effect, can make a difference, can even tip the scales of justice from time to time. We all know how ludicrous this idea is, but while we're reading D'Amato's latest, which finds the feisty Cat involved in linked cases of spousal abuse and high-level police department dirty pool, all doubts are happily suspended.