Larry Darter's Omerta appears to be the first novel in a police procedural series that features detective Howard Drew. In Omerta, Drew is the newbie, and he gets quite the introduction to being a detective by working alongside veteran Rudy Ortega as they try to solve not one but three different cases.

(Yes, Omerta is also the title of the third The Godfather novel, so don't get them confused. This is not that.)

What I will say about this novel is that it has potential - and a guy who sort of looks like Bill Pullman on the cover. Ha ha!

I received a free e-ARC of the novel back when it was first published in 2021. I'm hopeful that the novel was edited a bit more before its actual publication because there were some typos and some glaring errors - like a whole page when the author got a character's first name confused for the last name! (One of the victims is named Bailey Henry. Her parents go to visit the cops, and the author starts off naming the parents Mr. and Mrs. Henry. But then he spends a whole page calling them Mr. and Mrs. Bailey. *face palm*)

It was also a very "talky" novel, but perhaps that's just what "police procedurals" are like? The detectives obviously weren't there when the crimes happened, so we had to read about everything after the fact, which meant it was basically just a bunch of guys standing around talking, or sitting in an interview room talking, or talking on the phone. You get the idea.

Other things I wasn't wild about - an underdeveloped love story and the dialogue. Whenever I read a novel set in the present day and people aren't speaking in contractions ("isn't" instead of "is not", for example), it just rubs me the wrong way. It feels wrong and unnatural. And most of the dialogue in this novel felt that way, which is not good when talking is basically the only action!

I also felt the title was misleading. It refers to a mafia thing, and it relates to the first murder victim in the novel. It doesn't really have anything to do with the other cases mentioned in the novel. And spoiler alert - none of the three cases in this novel are related, which is something I was expecting based on other detective novels that I've read. This was basically a "Want to know what happens when you're an LAPD detective? Read this book!"

In the words of Randy Jackson, "That's a no from me, dawg."

Omerta is published by Fedora Press and is available to purchase. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley.

this was a great start to the Howard Drew series, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the world that they were in.

I received this arc for an honest review.
This story opens with two homicide detectives. Rudy Ortega who is getting ready to retire and the new guy he is showing the ropes to Howard Drew who they call “Howie’. You find out as you get into the story that Howie is suffering from PTSD which only affects a relationship that you the reader would like to work but you know it won’t for that reason among others.
Howie and Rudy work in Los Angeles so the area I am familiar with which for me the reader added to the experience in reading this book. The author takes you through the case where at the beginning of the murder with a few leads you are thinking they will be able to tie this up, especially with the pressure for the bosses. That is not to be the case. You see how the case goes cold and how Howie starts working other cases, how his life is going, what happens to Rudy. When suddenly a year later a break for Howie in in the first case.
I found this to be a wonderful story of the life of a detective and the people they come in contact with within and outside of their work members. The way the author describes each scene made me feel like I was there with the characters in Los Angeles. Liked all of the characters even the ones that only appeared for a short while. Overall a very good book and worth the read.

Thriller writer Tessa Wegert says “crime fiction writers are like journalists.” She zeroed in on a word—authenticity—that fits my thoughts on Larry Darter’s Omerta to a tee. Former journalist Wegert examines Michael Connelly’s oeuvre but fans of Omerta will undoubtedly see similarities:

Regardless of characters, setting, or storyline, a single word always comes to mind when I read a Michael Connelly novel: authenticity. The details of how Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller, and Renée Ballard investigate crimes, identify suspects, and interact with their colleagues always withstand scrutiny.

Darter’s debut police procedural follows the career of Howard “Howie” Drew, a Los Angeles detective. A “just the facts, ma’am” tone is the perfect showcase for Drew’s modus operandi. Former solider and beat cop, Drew was recently promoted to homicide detective. His partner and mentor, Rudy Ortega, has one foot out the door because retirement beckons, but he still has a lot to impart to “Youngblood,” his nickname for his new partner. For advice on where to eat, who to date (keep it in the cop family, says Rudy), and how to navigate the system, Rudy’s your man.

On Christmas Eve, Howie and Rudy head out to a murder scene on Benedict Canyon. The victim has had her fifteen minutes of fame. A colleague fills them in.

“Rudy, your victim, is Fiona Silverman, the writer, the so-called mafia princess,” Maxwell said.



“Mafia princess?” Drew said.



“Yes, her father was a big-time mob guy, John ‘Sonny’ Silverman,” Maxwell said. “He was a Gambino crime family underboss. He rubbed shoulders with the likes of John Gotti, Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano, and Angelo Ruggiero. After her father died, she wrote a best-selling memoir called Mafia Princess: Growing Up in a Mob Family.”

Figuring out a killer is a methodical and painstaking task—hunches are only useful if they can be backed up by rock-solid forensic evidence. Drew and Ortega each have a favorite suspect in mind for Silverman’s murder. For Ortega, it’s Nelson Welch, Fiona’s agent and one of the few people she saw on a regular basis. Drew thinks it’s William Hurst, her “soul mate” and best friend since they met in college at USC. Hurst moved to the New York area after graduation where he became very financially successful. A few years after he married, his wife was murdered, and Hurst was the chief suspect. Fiona was an integral part of the alibi that deflected suspicion from him back when it occurred. The New York police want to reopen the investigation into Valerie Hurst’s death but Fiona’s cousin, Shirley Sutton, tells Drew on the phone that nothing would ever shake Fiona’s story.

“How can you be so certain about that, Ms. Sutton?” Drew said.



“Have you ever heard the term omertà, detective?”



“I can’t say that I have,” Drew said.



“As practiced by the La Cosa Nostra, the Italian-American Mafia, omertà is a code or vow of silence and code of honor.”

The code of omertà is Fiona’s heritage from her family. According to Sutton, “Had Fiona watched Bill kill his wife and dispose of her body, she would never have told the authorities and would never have testified against him had the police arrested him.” But Drew knows since 2001, Fiona’s circumstances have changed—is it possible she was blackmailing her oldest friend? Follow the money is always good advice.

In Omerta, readers find out in fascinating detail what is needed to solve a murder. Ortega and Drew are nothing without their support system, the folks that do autopsies, dust a crime scene for fingerprints, and cops who liaise from other districts. Unfortunately, time runs out for the detectives before they solve Fiona Silverman’s murder—their boss assigns them to another case. But in their spare time, they keep plugging away, determined to bring Fiona’s killer to justice.

It’s been said that cops run on coffee and doughnuts and both make an appearance in Omerta. Word to the wise—don’t drink the coffee at the precinct. Doughnuts, that’s a different story.

Nearly every day, some thoughtful citizen dropped off a box of doughnuts. Drew supposed it was a small way of letting the cops know there were still people out there who knew and appreciated the men and women who put on a badge every day and tried to do their best. Drew always thought the gesture was so amazing given that it seemed most of those the cops tried to protect and serve didn’t particularly like them and sometimes openly despised them.

Howie and Rudy crisscross Los Angeles daily as they do their job, so they rack up meals at an impressive and comprehensive list of restaurants. It’s better than Trip Advisor.

We find out a little about Drew’s personal life—he’s haunted by memories of his time in Iraq. He never sleeps through the night. Ortega noticed a certain bleakness about Drew’s demeanor when they were first teamed up.

He seemed like a competent young detective, but Ortega believed Drew must have seen some awful shit either as a cop or in the military. He was one of those guys who seemed to have a thousand-yard stare even inside an eight-by-eight-foot room. Drew revealed little in the way of emotions behind the dead-eyed look.

His taciturn nature inhibits his ability to get close to Lucy Tomlinson, a female patrol officer he met Christmas Eve, at the Silverman murder scene, and started dating soon after. They banter about music: Drew likes country and western.

There had been so many cowboy shitkickers in Drew’s old army unit back in Iraq that he had been continually inundated with country-western music. He had hated it at first, but in time it had grown on him. By the end of his second tour, it was all he ever listened to. Maybe he found country-western songs appealing because the lyrics came closer to describing his real-life experiences than any other music did. Tami Neilson, a Canadian-born, New Zealand-based country singer and songwriter, was a recent Drew discovery.

Lucy, his off-and-on girlfriend, prefers Taylor Swift. Is it too soon to wonder if there will ever be a Detective Howard Drew Spotify list like we’ve come to expect from Peter Robinson when he shares the latest Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks crime con? Here’s hoping Omerta is the first of a string of Howard Drew police procedurals so we can find out more about the reserved Detective Drew. I look forward to it.

Howard Drew has terrible nightmares from the time he spent in Afganistan. What he experienced there was a training ground for his present job. After eight years on LAPD, Howard is where he wants to be, Homicide. He is paired with an experienced detective, Rudy Ortega, who will teach him the ins and outs of working homicide.
This is a book that captured my attention right away. I felt like I was learning how LAPD Homicide Division works.too. The characters are well developed and the homicides were challenging. I look forward to the next book in this series.

I recieved an Advanced Reader's Copy from. Fedora Press through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are completely my own.
#Omerta #NetGalley

This is the 1st story that I have read from this author and he knocked it out of the ballpark. The story begins with two detectives, Ortega who is looking to retire and Drew his partner who Ortega is training. On this call they are called to a killing that occurs just before Christmas. They arrive at the scene and and Drew meets Lucy.

After they have left the scene and start their investigation, there are very little clues. The only source that they have will be through interviews with the decedents friends. After going through several interviews, Ortega believes that the killer is one person and Drew thinks it is someone else. Before they are able to close the case out, they are assigned another one that involves sexual assault. This case too is one with little evidence available. Again the case will be solved based on interviews conducted. While this case is being worked on, they haven't forgotten about the previous one and work it on the slack time.

Through good police work and having another crew take fingerprints at the second murder, they are able to close it out. On the 1st case they ultimately eliminate one of their suspects leaving just one. This individual has also been a person of interest in another case and that one has just been reopened. The individual has fled the state where it happened and disappeared. Through interactions with the detectives on the reopened case, Drew discovers that their suspect has been captured for another killing. After the charge was reduced, this individual served his time and then was released on probation. Drew was able to get an arrest warrant for this individual, but he vanished.

To find out how these cases wound up being solved, what the title "Omerta" referred to and exactly how Lucy plays in the story, then you must read this book. You won't be disappointed.

This was the first in a promising new series of police procedurals featuring Drew a PTSD haunted LA detective and his introduction the murder squad. What struck me was the accuracy of the description of policework and tradecraft and LA itself and the frustrations involved in solving a series of murders.

The book is never less than engaging and is a good read. In my opinion it just lacks a bit of heart and soul. I liked the main characters but I never really felt involved with them. Hopefully as the series develops it will really catch fire as it is a promising start.

My first impression is that the sentence structure isn't very good, and I find that very irritating. I guess there aren't any good software for this, but experienced authors should be able to put words in the right order.
Then it gets worse, with a weak and messy plot, strange procedures, and cases solved by luck and not by brilliant police work.
This is a readable book, but very entertaining it's not.

If one wonders how tedious murder investigations can be, then the novel Omerta would provide plenty of tutoring. The book is pretty much a straightforward tale of two LAPD homicide detectives and the murder cases they investigate. We go through various suspects until everything is narrowed down, if it is. What the novel is not is exciting. Which is to say that it didn't excite me. I read it all, hoping to find some spark. Let's just say it was okay.
What disturbed me are some of the mistakes it makes. A Los Angeles police officer is not likely to be hearing the word "omerta" for the first time. What with Mario Puzo's Godfather novels and the Sopranos television series, even grade schoolers would know that. And why it is used as the title of this novel escapes me. One reference was made to omerta- it was not a theme of the novel.
Detectives should also know that someone who has been arrested for a sex crime and is not convicted would not be "a registered sex offender." One suspect, we are told, has a house near San Francisco. Later, we learn it is in Trinidad, almost 300 miles to the north. Hardly near!
The love affair of the detective and the cop was about as boring as the novel, so I guess it was at least consistent.
Thanks, Netgalley, for the ARC.

This book is definitely worth reading but just ok for me. It had intrigue and suspense and was definitely a real who done it! but there was also a lot of boring talk?! Like Idk to much information about stuff that was meaningless?! I guess that's the best way I can explain! My mind wandered a bit in a few spots but it was also decent enough to have me read through the whole book! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!