Thin Line: A Detective's Reckoning with the Dark Side of the Justice System

by Patti D Lacy

Can a Tony Daniels, a detective from the idyllic town of Normal, Illinois, cross the blue line of police solidarity to help exonerate the man he and his squad convicted of Normal's first...and only...murder of 1993?



At the beginning of the 1993 fall semester at Illinois State University, someone murders senior journalism student Jennifer Lockmiller in her apartment. Tony Daniels, a career police officer and Marine who served for years during the Vietnam War, is named lead detective in Jennifer's case.



Tony, and the squad, first put Alan Beaman, Jennifer's ex-boyfriend, in the hot seat of suspects. Then others crawl out of the woodwork of drugs, sex, and jealousy, and Tony believes they're looking at a complicated mess. Normal Police Department brass disagree, and Tony is pulled off the case. Though Tony keeps saying, "Look at others," the squad only has eyes for Beaman.



In 1995, a McLean County jury convicts Alan of murder and sentences him to 50 years in prison. Post-trial, Tony stands at a crossroads. Can he fight his own demons from a helllish war and a rough childhood to help Alan and those who believe his conviction should be overturned?



"Thin Line," a braided true crime/creative memoir, travels through the tumultuous Vietnam War years and the 90s grunge and internet eras to examine issues of domestic violence, substance abuse, and a quest for truth and justice that just might lead to redemption

330 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2026

Reviews

[Cathy Gohlke · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

Detective Tony Daniels is haunted by the demons of a wartime past and tortured by doubts of a verdict committing Alan, a young man, to fifty years in prison. Initially convinced that he was the killer of a grisly murder, Daniels and others focused their investigation primarily on Alan. But when Daniels was pulled from the case he found record keeping by colleagues sloppy, potential leads not followed, prejudice, and threads dropped—threads critical to the investigation. Daniels’ marine and police training had taught him to follow orders, not to buck the system or rock the boat, but his need for truth and justice would not allow him the luxury of silence.
For years Daniels suffered nightmares birthed in Viet Nam. Those very PTSD experiences helped him better understand the accused, enough to continue investigating. Even after retirement, Daniels continued to follow the case and the court appeal. He rooted for Alan through the years he was incarcerated, certain the real killer was still at large. Daniels finally found peace through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the support of his wife, and the ultimate release of the wrongly accused.
Thin Line is Tony Daniels’ account of a true crime, the investigation that followed, and his dogged search for truth and justice. Complete with day-by-day details of the investigation, news reports, courtroom decisions, details of the lives of the victim’s family and of those considered “persons of interest,” the book is a vivid portrayal of broken people in a broken world and their journey through the American justice system. It’s an account of bucking a system too slow in doing the hard work of saying it was wrong.
Patti Lacy has done a phenomenal job in researching, interviewing, documenting this story, and in bringing the real characters to life on the page. Compelling and suspenseful, true crime readers will find themselves unable to put the book down, reading late into the night.

[Catherine Richmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone agreed that a heinous crime was committed. But not everyone wanted justice.

Author Patti Lacy takes a deep dive into the mind of a detective investigating a murder, showing the impact of the violent crime on his mental health, the police department's mistakes and rush to convict, and the aftermath.

My personal take: Once again, "productivity" rears it's ugly head. Measuring productivity is easy; measuring justice isn't.