Caged — Jennifer Horsman

This novel involves the animal rights movement, break-ins of major research institutions by the animal liberation front, one of the FBI's special task forces that investigates domestic terrorism, a murder and its mystery, an animal psychic and a tragic suicide.
The story is told through an original and fresh voice, Joyce Jones, a hip, African American FBI agent in charge of the murder investigation, who had always considered animal rights a “…white person's luxury, a thing you cared about when the rent is paid, the children were fed and the bullets stop coming in through the windows…” and armed with this attitude, she is pulled into the animal rights movement as she investigates the murder of a prominent scientist who had been the target of animal rights protesters.
Jack Nelson is the supervising agent in charge, a man who has left the highest ranks of the FBI after experience his wife's tragic suicide and who falls in love with Joyce Jones over the course of the investigation. Emma Merton is the animal psychic, an entertaining and provocative character as she provides amusing, fascinating and surprisingly believable glimpses into various animals' consciousness, all the while helping the disbelieving Joyce Jones through the labyrinth of the animal rights movement to find the killer. The story also involves Dr. Toni Anderson, a prominent psychologist, who along with Joyce and Emma, eventually discovers the unexpected truth behind Nelson's wife's suicide.
Along the way we meet a whole cast of true life characters: research scientists who are conducting fascinating current medical research, the animal rights movement leaders, primate experts, philosophers, all of whom offer readers a detailed understanding of this controversial war over animal rights.
Any mystery reader will enjoy this story, but it is NOT genre fiction. While well plotted, it is driven by the characters. I think it's original, unconventional and because of Emma, kind of wacky. Many of the characters and much of the story are drawn from real people and true events. A ton of research went into creating this story. Many people don't know that the Animal Liberation Front is on the FBI's most wanted list and is responsible for over sixty million dollars worth of damage to research facilities as well as ruining a number of scientists' careers. The murder is drawn from an actual case that was never solved. The story tells why.