4-MA Group challenge for April is to read a book with one of the words, Tall, Big, Little, or Small in the title.  There are LOTS of books with those words in them, but up popped Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. Well,  long ago I read his Mystic River and enjoyed it well enough,  it was memorable anyway,  but I never got back to him and I don’t remember why not – no time most likely. Not only that but its as on a very good sale!  I could not believe my good fortune!  

Small Mercies
by Dennis Lehane 
2023 / 
Read by Robin Miles 10h 23m
Rating: A- / historical crime fiction 

That said, I was rather disappointed in Small Mercies, although it has solid 4+ stars in the reviews at Audible and Goodreads.

Set in Boston 1974,  Small Mercies is very nearly historical fiction but not quite (The author remembers the events from mid childhood.) Tensions run high because busing for school integration has been made mandatory. Mary Pat’s daughter, Jules, a senior at the white South High School has not been home for 2 days. This becomes quite worrisome and Mary Pat is out to find her – or whomever was involved in whatever they were involved in.  

Meanwhile, Bobby Coyne is down at the cop shop dealing with life on some tough streets. He and a couple of partners know of the upcoming events and about Mary Pat’s daughter. Bobby’s plan was to get the guns off the streets before it all erupted.

Jules is doing okay, mostly, or she was, although her mother senses something is amiss. But there’s a lot more trouble brewing in Southie than a bus full of Blacks and a missing school girl with maybe some marijuana involved, a whole lot more.  

The pace is fast and the reader has to pay attention or something will be missed. And it gets gritty.