Part of Alex Delaware, book 36
First published 2021
LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis faces an unusual predicament. Department brass pressure him to accommodate a wealthy young woman obsessed with solving her mother's decades-old murder. The victim was discovered with a bullet wound in a burned Cadillac that had crashed on the dangerous curves of Mulholland Drive. No witnesses came forward. No physical evidence survived. Multiple detectives had already exhausted every lead. Sturgis calls his longtime collaborator, psychologist Alex Delaware, because this case demands their combined expertise. As the pair dig into the cold file, apparent coincidences multiply. Established facts prove unreliable. The investigation awakens dangerous forces that threaten both detectives in the present day. Delaware and Sturgis must navigate the treacherous landscape of Los Angeles, where past secrets refuse to stay buried and a killer remains determined to escape justice.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, cold-case, police-procedural
Setting: Cadillac, Los Angeles, Mulholland Drive
Period: Decades-Old
368 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books