Blackwater Falls, Khan - B+

               This contemporary novel is set in fictional Blackwater Falls, just south of Denver. A heinous murder of a young Muslim girl from a family of Syrian refugees forces the Denver PD to send in its Community Response Unit. The higher ups do not trust the local police force to handle the case. The local sheriff is closely allied with the evangelical church where the pastor preaches hatred of all who were not born in the US and are not believers in Jesus. Allied with these two powerful men are a local unit of the Disciples, bike riding toughs, and the two largest businesses in town. The CRU is headed up by a Syrian and two women, one Pakistani-American and the other, Mexican-American, all three of whom drive the locals crazy. Arrayed against the sheriff is a Muslim community, whose men work in the local meat plant, where their union organizing efforts have attracted the attention of the Disciples. In the end, justice prevails. The author, born in England and raised in Canada, has a PhD. in International Relations, and is a lawyer with an LLM. She resides in Colorado.  She has written one of the best police mystery books I have ever come across. She perfectly handles the crime, the investigation, and the interplay of of racial, ethnic, and religious bias in today's America. Highly recommended.