First published 2008
Rosalie Curzon lies dead in her Adams Morgan apartment, beaten to death with brutal force. Detective Mary Hall arrives at the scene to find more than just a body. A video camera sits perched on a high bookshelf, suggesting the victim may have recorded her clients during intimate encounters. Hall teams with rookie cop Matthew Jackson to work the case while Washington politics churns around them. President Burton Pyle fights desperately for reelection against seasoned politician Robert Colgate, who leads in the polls despite whispers about his crumbling marriage and extramarital affairs. The investigation takes a sharp turn when kidnappers seize the daughter of Colgate's closest friend. Hall and Jackson dig deeper and discover the abduction connects to the Curzon murder in ways no one anticipated. The detectives race to solve both crimes as the presidential campaign reaches fever pitch, but the killer's identity will shock everyone involved.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, race-against-time
Setting: Adams Morgan, Washington
Period: Contemporary
324 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: murder, violence