Blasting through Boston on the
bloody trail of a murdering rapist.

Family Skeletons
(Apr 1982)

"I don't know, something's wrong.  I'll tell you when I find it."

For "Dirty Harry" it's a homecoming in hell as he blazes through Boston's Combat Zone!  "Dirty Harry" Callahan stalks a mass murderer through Boston's infamous underworld where crooked cops are usually looking the other way.  Once it was the Boston Strangler- now the killer's got a knife and is carving up college girls.  Dirty Harry will slice through the slime to find him.

6 Shots, Or Only 5?
*****

Skeletons begins with two signs that the story is in trouble.   Harry is on his way to visit relatives, and he is spending a lot of time thinking about Superman II.  The fact that the author is able to tread so closely to such a potential derailment alone earns it an extra point.  (It's quickly pointed out that they are distant relatives by marriage only.)

Boston turns out to be an inspired setting for Harry, with the Jack the Ripper-style killer providing a nice change of pace.  What really earns this entry its high rating, though, is the complexity of the plot.  This is not one of the more standard entries where the killer is revealed at the beginning.  Here we see a case where even Harry is unsure of who to suspect, and begins to doubt his own judgement.  It also features a twist at the end which may not sit well with loyalists of the films, but does make for an interesting finale.