A series of murders of homeless folks near a river across from an elite golf club makes neighbours wary and members of the golf club angry. That anger is directed towards the Toronto Police Service and its homicide department now led by Ari Greene. Greene along with Detective Kennicott try to trap the killer before he or she strikes again.

Greene's daughter Alison plays a bigger role in this novel as she is a roving TV reporter who shows up with her cameraman at the crime scenes. She also aids Arnold Burns, an agitator who is working to improve the situation of the homeless in the city by covering the problem of homelessness in her reports. As well, another large portion of the narrative is about the friendship of three women lawyers and how that friendship impacts the lives of those touched by the murders.

The novel focuses on the homelessness issue in large cities like Toronto outlining the reasons for it and the many solutions that have been suggested to fix it. Also covered in the story is the large disparity between the rich and poor in Toronto and the consequences for the city and those who live in it.

If the reader is familiar with Toronto, it adds another dimension to the novel as you will know the streets and buildings Rotenberg describes as Greene, Kennicott and other characters move around the city. ( )

I was quite happy to see that Robert Rotenberg had a new entry in his Greene and Kennicott series. The sixth book is the newly released Downfall.

Ari Greene is the head of homicide in Toronto, Ontario. Greene has a calm, measured way of speaking and thinking and often knows and sees more than he lets on, playing his cards close to his chest. Detective Kennicott has learned from Greene and is also a keen investigator. Greene's daughter is a news reporter and gives another viewpoint on things. I'm not totally sold on her yet, but her appearance in the books adds to Greene's personal story line. I am quite fond of Greene's elderly father. The rest of the supporting players in Downfall include some familiar faces and some new characters. The homeless were given dignity and real voices in their character building.

The crime at the heart of this novel is not imagining on Rotenberg's part. Instead, homelessness and the killing of homeless people is fact. In this case, Ari has more than one murder on his plate. 'Toronto is now the fourth largest municipality in North America and there are over 10,000 people in Toronto who are homeless on any given night.' Encampments, gatherings and tent cities are part of every large city's make up. In Downfall, one such tent city has drawn the ire of an elite Toronto golf club. The tensions between the wealthy and the homeless is at the heart of the story.

Rotenberg has been called Canada's John Grisham. This is an apt descriptor as Rotenberg himself is a criminal lawyer. That expertise brings much to his writing and his plotting. Rotenberg also makes his home in T.O. Actual streets, places and more make up the setting. Having been to some of them, it was easy to envision places as I read.

Rotenberg keeps things moving along at a good clip, with no down time for our investigators. I had my suspicions as to the whodunit as the book progressed, but this certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I was right to a certain degree, but hadn't sussed out the details.

A really good addition to this series. And the plot lends itself to food for thought in regards to homelessness. I will be happily looking for the next entry in this series. ( )