To Play the Fool

King shows once more that she is one of the most extraordinary writers to come along in a long time. She brings together San Francisco's homeless people, a woman police officer, and a Holy Fool into a warm and rewarding whole. The fool in question here is known as Brother Erasmus, and he comes into Kate Martinelli's life when a homeless man is murdered. Erasmus is an enigma who speaks only in quotations, a practice that makes questioning him more of a frustrating game than a police interview. Yet all signs point to the strong probability that this man of obvious learning, much wit, and boundless compassion is a killer.