When a legendary ex-cop is murdered in LA, the pressure's on to find the killer. Lieutenant Frank Duffy needs his best detective on the case, but his best detective, Ash Levine, quit a year ago. A tenacious, obsessive detective, Ash resigned after Latisha Patton, his witness in a homicide investigation, was murdered. Without his job, Ash is left unanchored - and consumed with guilt that he somehow caused Latisha's death. When he's asked to rejoin the force, Ash reluctantly agrees. Getting his badge back could give him the chance to find Latisha's killer. Ash dives in headfirst to investigate the ex-cop's murder in a case that propels him into the shadow lands of Southern California, from the seamy escort services of Hollywood, to the high-end art dealers in the Hollywood Hills, to the gangs of South Central. But even when he has a suspect in custody, something about the case doesn't sit right with Ash, and he continues working the increasingly dangerous investigation while quietly chasing leads in Latisha's murder. ( )

After a retired LAPD officer is murdered, the assistant chief wants the best detective handling the case. Lt. Duffy tells him that the best homicide detective quit a year ago after a dispute when one of his witnesses was murdered.

Ash Levine had been itchy to come back to the job. He feels that whoever killed his witness should be caught and punished. He agrees to find the cop killer and then spend time on his old case.

The author, Miles Corwin, does a good job in creating a different kind of character. Ash Levine is a strong character who enjoys Chinese culture and food, also he keeps the good Jewish tradition of having Friday dinner at his mother's home.

This enjoyable story has him move back to his old job as if he's never left. He's relentless about finding the killer and doesn't care whose feet he has to step on.

I enjoyed the story and the manner in which it was presented. ( )

Thank you, Mile Corwin, for a literate police procedural with nary a serial killer in sight. Asher Levine, a Jewish cop who quit the LAPD after his witness in a murder case is executed, is called back as lead investigator when a retired cop is killed down in San Pedro. Ultimately, the old cold case and the new hot one intertwine in a web of gang violence and police corruption. Corwin draws his characters well, imbuing each with his or her own set of physical and behavioral qualities, and the dialog is smart, punchy without running over into parody. The writing only feels forced when Levine dumbs himself into a couple of mortally dangerous situations and smarts his way out of them. In an era when murders are solved in 60 minutes on TV (exception for "The Killing"), Corwin demonstrates that police work can be a long, tedious, painstaking process that sometimes results in a quick arrest, sometimes not. Along the way, he provides a compelling look at Los Angeles and its environs - the architecture, the streets, the ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants; he also provides a look at cop culture that I haven't read since Joseph Wambaugh.

Corwin doesn't do enough, however, with Levine's Jewish background. There are some funny (and pretty realistic) scenes with his mother and uncle Benny about history, aspirations for the next generation, and finding "a nice Jewish girl (Levine is already divorced from one) instead of dating "shicksas" (non-Jewish girls, particularly Lebanese Christians). And while Corwin occasionally touches fleetingly on Levine's service with the Israeli Defense Forces in southern Lebanon, the experience probably should have informed his character more than it does in the book.

I read a fair amount of police procedurals, and this is one of the best I've read in a while. ( )