CHICAGO — It had all the elements of a suspenseful crime novel. There was a mysterious attack on a shadowy downtown street and a pair of perpetrators who managed to slip away. An actor who said he was the victim of a bizarre hate crime. A furious mayor who insisted it was all a hoax, nothing more than a desperate grab for money and fame. And a prosecutor who shocked everyone by dropping the case.

Chicago, a city torn by race, class, violence and secrecy, was the ideal setting for the twisty story of Jussie Smollett, the “Empire” actor who this week was cleared of charges that he had staged an attack on himself in order to stir up national attention and, possibly, a raise.

“The story is bizarre from beginning to end,” said Sara Paretsky, the Chicago mystery novelist whose best-selling V.I. Warshawski series is set in the city.

Like so many Chicagoans, she had followed the story from the beginning, and found herself “profoundly depressed” by the decision by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office to drop the charges. Many residents placed blame on Kimberly Foxx, the elected prosecutor, even though she recused herself from the case and handed it to her deputy.