Merci Rayborn, the Orange County (CA) homicide investigator introduced in Parker’s The Blue Hour, is back. She and her son are living with her father, a retired cop, and she is dating Mike McNally, a respected fellow officer. When a young prostitute is found murdered and Mike emerges as the primary suspect, Merci must do the unthinkable — expose and arrest her lover. With her world turned upside down, Merci must sift through the facts and balance where the truth leads her against where her heart is telling her to go. This taut, psychologically complex police procedural brings Parker and his daring heroine into the front ranks of this popular genre.