Author: Sibella Giorello
ISBN: 978-1-59554-534-3

Click Here To PurchaseThe Clouds Roll Away (Raleigh Harmon) 

Raleigh Harmon, who is a forensic geologist for the FBI, has just come home to Richmond, Virginia from an assignment in Seattle.
She is expecting a happy reunion with her family as it is the Christmas season, but is sent out almost immediately to investigate a cross burning at the home of a celebrity rap artist.  Said singer has just purchased a former plantation house and has come up against some bad feelings in the neighborhood.  This is considered a hate crime and the Ku Klux Klan supposedly is involved and has appeared to harrass the family.  The locals, whose families have lived in the plantations for many years are also not too thrilled with their new neighbors.
 
If that was not enough Raleigh is having a difficult time dealing with her immediate superior in the FBI office, who doesn't like Raleigh and was instrumental in sending her to Seattle in the beginning.  Raleigh has to try and make friends at her new assignment, she has an old flame that has suddenly become interested in her again.  Also, her mother has health problems and Raleigh is looking out for her.  She is having a difficult time with this case and her boss has given her a deadline to come up with the solution.  As the case becomes more difficult Raleigh has to rely on her forensic skills to discover the source of the accellerent that was used to burn the cross.  She is also dealing with the death of her father which was never solved.  Her personal and professional lives begin to cross over and it's sometimes hard to catch up.  The closing is interesting and not at all what I expected.  Actually, to me, it was the best part of the book.  The main character is a strong woman who seems to enjoy her job and with each story she will probably get better and better and should be before the reading public for quite some time.
 
This book is the third in a series featuring Raleigh Harmon, and I wish that I had read the other two.  The Clouds Roll Away was a separate story but, it was difficult to get into.  The writing style is good but, I probably would have understood the characters better had I read the two previous books.  This book was very real when it got into the hate crime aspect and readers will be surprised at the conclusion, which is always a great way to end a book.  Ms. Giorello did a great job of not telling too much so that the reader would know what is happening but just enough to keep you interested.  I would recommend this book to any reader who really gets into the CSI part of investigating a crime.