by Dell Shannon
Part of Lieutenant Luis Mendoza, book 15
First published 1968
Lieutenant Luis Mendoza lies in bed with measles while his Los Angeles Police Department Homicide Squad tackles bizarre cases without him. The detectives face disturbing crimes, including a man found tied to railroad tracks and decapitated by a train. Mendoza refuses to stay sidelined during his illness. He begins his own unofficial investigation into one of the same cases his colleagues are already working. The squad must solve multiple murders while their Chief of Detectives operates from his sickbed, creating tension between official procedure and Mendoza's determination to remain involved in police work despite his convalescence.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, medical-mystery
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 20th-century
175 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow