Part of Dismas Hardy, book 13
First published 2009
Dylan Vogler runs Bay Beans West in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. The ex-convict charms customers at the coffee shop owned by Maya Townshend, the mayor's socialite niece. When Dylan turns up dead with a backpack full of premium marijuana, investigators realize the shop served more than coffee to the city's elite. Maya claims she knew nothing about the drug business, but her college friendship with Dylan raises questions. A second murder among Maya's circle brings celebrity and political clients into the spotlight. The scandal grows as prosecutors target Maya, who guards a dangerous secret that could destroy her during the public trial. Defense attorney Dismas Hardy must protect Maya's confidences while the case threatens to reshape San Francisco's political future. The investigation pulls in Hardy's allies Abe Glitsky and Wyatt Hunt as blackmail and conspiracy theories swirl around the murders.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: San Francisco, Haight-Ashbury
Period: 21st-century
413 pages · Hardcover · Dutton
Content warnings: drug-use, murder, violence