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Detective L.A. Franco Mysteries #2
Street Rules
For 'Frank, ' L.A.P.D. Homicide Lieutenant L.A. Franco and her homicide squad, it's business as usual -- a multiple murder, ugly as it is, at least seems to have an easy explanation. Until it coincides with an untimely drive-by shooting.
The investigation ultimately pulls Frank and her squad in conflicting directions while drawing Frank closer to the county's new Chief Coroner, Gail Lawless. Through a series of twists and turns, all Frank's leads eventually bring her to the disquieting possibility that the killer she seeks might well be one of her own brothers in blue.
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 27, 2017
This book takes a long time to get into the story. The first one was the same way. I keep reading them because I like the law enforcement angle and Frank as the protagonist. An okay read for me, but I’ll probably read another one because I keep hoping they’ll get better.
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September 17, 2016Some books just scream out to be a best-seller—or maybe the pilot of a fine TV series. They have great characters, a lot of local color, and an exciting plot. Street Rules has all of these and more. But sadly—for everyone—lesbian mysteries not only don’t make the best seller lists, but are rejected by publishers that have no qualms about printing garbage by straight writers.
The novel finds Lt. Frank Franco involved in the brutal murder of six members of the same family. The main suspect—a drug-addled relative—is later found dead of an overdose. But Frank is not convinced that he was guilty, despite her unit’s—and her boss’s—desire to clear the books on the crime. As it happens, Frank—and many of her co-workers—knew some of the victims. In fact, a fifteen-year-old cousin named Paca, was a particular favorite of hers. But when she, too, is gunned down, the crime becomes personal. She has no choice but to continue her investigation, because “to do her work she had to believe that justice existed at some level. Whether it was meted out from the courts or delivered swiftly on the streets, she had to know that there was a reason why she did what she did every day.”
One of the things I like most about this book is Clare’s gritty description of gang life in Los Angeles. Paca, like most of her family, was gang member. The author introduces us to some of the intricacies of gang life and gives us some cop slang that you probably have never heard before: wit=witness, dip steel=shoot up, pudding in a cup=body in a trunk, boot=rookie, grounder=dead body on the street, 10-7=off duty, SWAT=some wild-ass theory. This language takes us more deeply into Frank’s world and makes the story more interesting.
On the romance side, it seems that Frank stopped seeing Detective Audi Kennedy after she found Kennedy en flagrante with a waitress. But a new medical examiner in her department is more than willing to take Kennedy’s place—if only Frank could let go of her past. And dating a medical examiner gives Frank added incentive to observe a number of post mortems—all of which are done tastefully but completely. This is another place where Clare gives us the impression that she knows more about police work than her curriculum vita would suggest.
All in all, this book is just as good—or nearly so—as the first one. And that’s saying something. Give it a 4+ and hope someone makes takes the series to the screen. In the meantime, it is up to readers like us to praise novels like these, because in spite of the great gains that the LGBT community has earned since this book was published, it seems like no one else will.
I read what seems to be the first Bella printing of this novel. Although I did catch a few typos, I was not bothered by them. Nor did I see places where names were confused—as was mentioned by another reviewer.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 1250 other lesbian mysteries by over 400 authors.rs.
The novel finds Lt. Frank Franco involved in the brutal murder of six members of the same family. The main suspect—a drug-addled relative—is later found dead of an overdose. But Frank is not convinced that he was guilty, despite her unit’s—and her boss’s—desire to clear the books on the crime. As it happens, Frank—and many of her co-workers—knew some of the victims. In fact, a fifteen-year-old cousin named Paca, was a particular favorite of hers. But when she, too, is gunned down, the crime becomes personal. She has no choice but to continue her investigation, because “to do her work she had to believe that justice existed at some level. Whether it was meted out from the courts or delivered swiftly on the streets, she had to know that there was a reason why she did what she did every day.”
One of the things I like most about this book is Clare’s gritty description of gang life in Los Angeles. Paca, like most of her family, was gang member. The author introduces us to some of the intricacies of gang life and gives us some cop slang that you probably have never heard before: wit=witness, dip steel=shoot up, pudding in a cup=body in a trunk, boot=rookie, grounder=dead body on the street, 10-7=off duty, SWAT=some wild-ass theory. This language takes us more deeply into Frank’s world and makes the story more interesting.
On the romance side, it seems that Frank stopped seeing Detective Audi Kennedy after she found Kennedy en flagrante with a waitress. But a new medical examiner in her department is more than willing to take Kennedy’s place—if only Frank could let go of her past. And dating a medical examiner gives Frank added incentive to observe a number of post mortems—all of which are done tastefully but completely. This is another place where Clare gives us the impression that she knows more about police work than her curriculum vita would suggest.
All in all, this book is just as good—or nearly so—as the first one. And that’s saying something. Give it a 4+ and hope someone makes takes the series to the screen. In the meantime, it is up to readers like us to praise novels like these, because in spite of the great gains that the LGBT community has earned since this book was published, it seems like no one else will.
I read what seems to be the first Bella printing of this novel. Although I did catch a few typos, I was not bothered by them. Nor did I see places where names were confused—as was mentioned by another reviewer.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 1250 other lesbian mysteries by over 400 authors.rs.
January 18, 2012
Much slower than the last "Detective Franco" book but intriguing. You can really see the politics of the police force in this one and how Frank has to work around some of the good ole boys club in order to get her job done. I also think she did a good job showing the cycle of street gangs and how short some of the members lives can be. If you get to be 20 in a street gang you are lucky. There is a lot of gang lingo in this book which can sometimes leaving you scratching your head and trying to catch up and there are a lot of typos. Particularly toward the end of the book. When the characters name was Gail and the text read Gay I was really confused but then figured out it was a massive typo that spanned a few pages. Not her best but I still like the characters.
October 22, 2008
After so many great books, I was getting spoiled and kinda meh about even good books. Then I started reading Street Rules by Baxter Clare. At this point, I remembered all the bad books that exist. This is boring, and although it's a crime mystery, it's just so unpersonable and thuggy talking, I couldn't get into it and stopped reading. Skip!
July 12, 2018
Seventeen years on the job, homicide lieutenant L. A. “Frank” Franco leads her team of jaded detectives through the morass of rough and tumble, south central Los Angeles—a god-forsaken world where gangbangers rule and no one cares whether they kill each other or not. But Frank cares. All she’s ever wanted was to be a cop—an honest cop—who believes that to “Protect and Serve” is more than a banal cliché, it’s a moral obligation. And she’ll do whatever it takes to meet that obligation even when it requires street rules.
A Passage from “Street Rules”:
“There are thousands of written rules and regulations within a police organization, but the most critical ones, the ones that make or break a cop, will never be found in any book or memorandum. The rules that cops create themselves are brutal and rigorous and can only be tested through trial by fire. During that trial, a cop has to display two criteria. The first is courage. Will he go into a burning building or make excuses? Will she back her partner or run for cover? Will he go down the alley with the mythic 250-lb man or look the other way and keep walking down the sidewalk? The second criterion is loyalty. Will she turn her partner in for knocking off a piece on the clock? Will he snitch about the free booze and cigarettes from the Handi-Mart? Will he or she balance on the thin line and cover for more serious things?
“If she passes, she earns an invisible badge of respect. She’ll have to work every day to keep it, but with it, she is allowed entry into the inner sanctum of police work. If she fails, every cop will know it. They might tolerate her, but they will never trust her or treat her as an equal. Respect cannot be legislated or mandated. It can only be earned.”
A first-rate police procedural right up there with Wambaugh and McBain that should be on everyone’s TBR list.
A Passage from “Street Rules”:
“There are thousands of written rules and regulations within a police organization, but the most critical ones, the ones that make or break a cop, will never be found in any book or memorandum. The rules that cops create themselves are brutal and rigorous and can only be tested through trial by fire. During that trial, a cop has to display two criteria. The first is courage. Will he go into a burning building or make excuses? Will she back her partner or run for cover? Will he go down the alley with the mythic 250-lb man or look the other way and keep walking down the sidewalk? The second criterion is loyalty. Will she turn her partner in for knocking off a piece on the clock? Will he snitch about the free booze and cigarettes from the Handi-Mart? Will he or she balance on the thin line and cover for more serious things?
“If she passes, she earns an invisible badge of respect. She’ll have to work every day to keep it, but with it, she is allowed entry into the inner sanctum of police work. If she fails, every cop will know it. They might tolerate her, but they will never trust her or treat her as an equal. Respect cannot be legislated or mandated. It can only be earned.”
A first-rate police procedural right up there with Wambaugh and McBain that should be on everyone’s TBR list.
August 19, 2017
I almost gave up on the first book because I found the criminal investigation fairly tedious and Frank was almost anonymous, fortunately when Kennedy made her appearance the book became much more interesting.
This book started in a similar manner, with a fairly ordinary investigation, but then came chapter five and it becomes clear the author has ‘ditched’ Kennedy as a main character. My problem with this is that without her interaction with Frank in the previous book I would probably given up and given it a one star rating. Frank isn’t an interesting enough character to carry the story by herself.
I carried on for a while and even wondered if Gail might provide the interaction, but in the end I just couldn’t be bothered.
This book started in a similar manner, with a fairly ordinary investigation, but then came chapter five and it becomes clear the author has ‘ditched’ Kennedy as a main character. My problem with this is that without her interaction with Frank in the previous book I would probably given up and given it a one star rating. Frank isn’t an interesting enough character to carry the story by herself.
I carried on for a while and even wondered if Gail might provide the interaction, but in the end I just couldn’t be bothered.
April 26, 2025
I’m starting to think all of those books will be extremely boring in a first half and only pick up in last 100 pages. I need to buy next parts in bulk, cause when I get invested in them, they end, but by the time I get the next one, I’m not in a mood for going through the boring bit anymore.
November 20, 2016
Like the first, enjoyable, good read.
July 8, 2013
Mixed feelings about this one. First, to get prejudices out of the way: Kennedy, Franco’s lover at the end of Bleeding Out, was by far my favorite in that book, so I was really disappointed in the direction the author took their relationship.
Okay, now to the more objective. Clearly, the writing isn’t as good technically as in the first book, largely an editing problem. There are a lot of sentences that are really awkward, but some that are just -- well, wrong. This adversely affects the pacing of the novel, because mechanical issues draw the reader out of the story and back to the surface, calling attention to the words themselves rather than to the narrative.
Then, there’s the dialog. The pervasive, almost overwhelming use of street slang and gangsta talk, and just basic crudeness, are so inconsistent with Bleeding Out that you wonder if this is even the same character. I understand the desire for verisimilitude, but it’s simply overdone. In other places, the dialog just seems unnatural, more so than in the first book. These, of course, are largely editorial issues. I’ve always found Bella to be pretty inconsistent when it comes to both copy editing and story editing. It does a disservice not only to the reader, but also to a group of very talented writers.
Our protagonist, Lt. LA “Frank” Franco, is a complex character who, while she’s not always likable, is nonetheless admirable. There’s something of a Dirty Harry mentality about her, though, which makes her less commendable than she could be.
All that said, Street Rules is certainly worth reading. Saying the writing isn’t as proficient mechanically as Bleeding Out doesn’t mean it’s “bad,“ necessarily, and the mystery is interesting and consistently plotted, with plenty of curves thrown our way. The characters are pretty well developed; I still like Kennedy, though it seems Clare goes out of her way to make her less likeable than in the previous book. We get a pretty complete picture of Gail, and learn more about Frank, too. Only the “perp” seems not very fully-fleshed,“ which is a little disappointing. The blossoming romance between Gail and Frank proceeds at a really nice, leisurely pace which I found quite refreshing.
So, though not exactly a rave, still recommended.
Okay, now to the more objective. Clearly, the writing isn’t as good technically as in the first book, largely an editing problem. There are a lot of sentences that are really awkward, but some that are just -- well, wrong. This adversely affects the pacing of the novel, because mechanical issues draw the reader out of the story and back to the surface, calling attention to the words themselves rather than to the narrative.
Then, there’s the dialog. The pervasive, almost overwhelming use of street slang and gangsta talk, and just basic crudeness, are so inconsistent with Bleeding Out that you wonder if this is even the same character. I understand the desire for verisimilitude, but it’s simply overdone. In other places, the dialog just seems unnatural, more so than in the first book. These, of course, are largely editorial issues. I’ve always found Bella to be pretty inconsistent when it comes to both copy editing and story editing. It does a disservice not only to the reader, but also to a group of very talented writers.
Our protagonist, Lt. LA “Frank” Franco, is a complex character who, while she’s not always likable, is nonetheless admirable. There’s something of a Dirty Harry mentality about her, though, which makes her less commendable than she could be.
All that said, Street Rules is certainly worth reading. Saying the writing isn’t as proficient mechanically as Bleeding Out doesn’t mean it’s “bad,“ necessarily, and the mystery is interesting and consistently plotted, with plenty of curves thrown our way. The characters are pretty well developed; I still like Kennedy, though it seems Clare goes out of her way to make her less likeable than in the previous book. We get a pretty complete picture of Gail, and learn more about Frank, too. Only the “perp” seems not very fully-fleshed,“ which is a little disappointing. The blossoming romance between Gail and Frank proceeds at a really nice, leisurely pace which I found quite refreshing.
So, though not exactly a rave, still recommended.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews