I was looking forward to reading and reviewing Kathleen Kent’s THE DIME because I knew it was set in Dallas, and I thought it would be fun to steep myself in the local ambience before taking a trip there later this month. Now I’m not so sure I’m prepared to visit the Big D, at least not without an armed bodyguard. The body count ratchets up as quickly as the suspense in this top-notch crime thriller set in north Texas.

Kent, who previously has been best known for producing historical fiction, was inspired to write THE DIME after contributing a short story to the anthology DALLAS NOIR, which then served as the germ for this novel. We first meet Kent’s heroine, Betty Rhyzyk, in her native Brooklyn, when, as a relatively inexperienced cop, she trusts her instincts (and her veteran cop uncle’s advice) to effectively apprehend an unhinged suspect who’s using a baby as a human shield.

"The ending of THE DIME is satisfying, but enough questions and possibilities remain that readers will be eagerly awaiting their next opportunity to travel to Dallas under the fiercely watchful eye of Betty Rhyzyk."

Fast forward 13 years, and Betty is in Dallas, now an experienced detective and a valued member of the narcotics squad on the Dallas PD. She has lived in Dallas for a couple of years, and although she could do without the constant gun-slinging and sexist comments (not to mention the Republican politics), she’s made some good friends on the force, especially her partner, Seth.

Soon Betty’s team is up against threats from all sides, however, when a case on which Betty is the lead investigator goes south in a hurry. After a routine stakeout of a local drug dealer results in several deaths, including a local cop and two civilians, Betty starts to feel like this case is doomed to chaos, if not outright failure. And soon, after a series of home invasions that leave Betty truly shaken, she begins to wonder if this case has stopped being about a Mexican drug cartel and started to become something much more personal.

What starts out as a fairly routine (if breathlessly fast-paced) police procedural soon takes a much darker turn, not only when Betty begins to feel personally threatened but later when her very life is on the line. Scenes of torture and violence are not for the faint of heart, but Kent positions these visceral scenes in a way that makes sense in the novel as a whole, and she never paints Betty as a victim.

Unusual in novels of this genre, Betty is involved in a stable, loving relationship with her long-time girlfriend, meaning that the usual romantic tension or setups are largely absent here. Sure, the toll that her job takes on her romantic relationship is a theme, as is the deep-rooted homophobia she encounters among her colleagues and casual acquaintances (not to mention her girlfriend’s family). Most of the focus, therefore, is on Betty herself, trying to make her peace with a life in Dallas that she didn’t exactly choose, and trying hard to exorcise the demons of the bad, abusive, self-destructive cops who came before her.

The ending of THE DIME is satisfying, but enough questions and possibilities remain that readers will be eagerly awaiting their next opportunity to travel to Dallas under the fiercely watchful eye of Betty Rhyzyk.