First published 1993
Lynn Cutter sweats out his disability pension in Palm Springs, counting down his final days as a cop. He has no patience for private investigators until he meets Breda Burrows. She has blue eyes, long legs, and the kind of toughness that gets Cutter's attention. Breda needs a guide through Palm Springs' glittering underworld, where silicone meets old money and Geritol mingles with murder. Their case starts with a wealthy socialite who doesn't mind her husband's affairs but wants to understand his secret sperm bank deposit. Cutter finds himself tracking the cheating husband into the desert, where the man meets a violent stranger known only as the fugitive. As Cutter and Breda dig deeper into Palm Springs' mix of pleasure and desperation, they discover that in this desert paradise, everyone has something to hide and some secrets kill.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Palm Springs
349 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Bantam