| Amazon Barnes & Noble Google Play iTunes |

Jake gets promoted to Chief of Detectives but has no time to enjoy his new office before a robbery, a kidnapping and then a shocking double murder lead Jake and his crew to a web of lies and greed growing unsuspected in peaceful, pretty Rutherford. Jake’s girlfriend Trudy and the rest of the experts at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul help unravel the mystery.

“…clever writing, zesty action and a simmering romance…”
— Publisher’s Weekly

“..a model of the small-town procedural.”
–Kirkus Reviews

“A superbly written, entertaining novel in a series to watch.”
— Booklist

Excerpt

There was plenty to love about my roomy new office at the end of the hall, beginning with a gleaming brass nameplate on the door that said, “Lt. Jake Hines, Investigations.” I intended to take my time moving in, Tuesday morning, and get all my stuff put away before I worried about earning my pay raise. But Lulu Breske blindsided me before I even got my computer set up. I was crawling around behind the desk, trying to remember how the monitor plugs into the CPU, when she banged the door open and yelled, “Jake Hines! You in here?”

She startled me and I jumped. My head hit the corner of the desktop, and for a few seconds I thought maybe I’d gone blind.

“Jesus, Lulu.” I groped my way to my feet and rubbed my head, where a lump was rising. “What are you hollering about? I’m right here.”

“How come you never answer my messages?” She aimed her clipboard at me like an Uzi. “Three times, I called you yesterday. What’s the matter, you forget how to work your voice mail? Okay, your CID is set for seven-thirty tonight, sign here.” She pointed to the line with my name on it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. “What CID?”

“The drug bust, the high-speed chase, whatever that screw- up was Sunday night. That’s your name right there, isn’t it? Know any other Jake Hines in the department? So sign it and I’ll be outa here.”

“Aw, Lulu, that wasn’t my collar, I just happened to get in the way by accident.”

“Argue with the Chief about that. He says notify everybody on the list, I’m gonna notify everybody.”

“Well, I don’t have time for any meetings right now, Lulu. I’m just moving into my new job here, I’m buried in paperwork.” I waved my arm at my clean, empty desk. All the junk I usually keep there was still sitting in boxes on the floor.

Lulu stared at the shiny wood veneer for a couple of seconds. “Uh-huh.” She turned to the door. “So, you want me to put down here that you’re refusing your CID?”

“Of course not,” I said, indignantly. It hadn’t even occurred to me to refuse it. I was just trying to weasel out of it.