by Dell Shannon
Part of Lieutenant Luis Mendoza, book 14
First published 1967
Lt. Luis Mendoza of the LAPD Homicide division faces a string of brutal murders plaguing Los Angeles. A housewife lies dead in her kitchen after being raped and killed. A prostitute turns up murdered in a cheap hotel. Another victim appears robbed and slain in an alley. The bodies keep arriving at the morgue as the killer continues his rampage. Mendoza must dig through police records to find suspects with histories of rape and assault. The detective searches for patterns among criminals who have committed similar violent crimes against women. Each new victim brings more pressure to solve the case before the killer strikes again. The investigation takes Mendoza through the dark underbelly of a city where violence seems to rain down without warning.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: police-procedural, serial-killer
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 20th-century
192 pages · Paperback · Raven House
Content warnings: graphic-violence, murder, rape, sexual-assault, violence