Another really excellent book in a good series. Tess's boyfriend Crow brings home for a night a young homeless black man. It turns out that he is a key witness to a clue to the murder of an assistant District Attorney. Crow and the young man flee while law enforcement comes down on Tess to try and find him. The threat to Tess and her family gets worse and worse.

Excellent suspense
. ( )

On the whole, I liked this one less than the first Tess Monaghan novel I read. I think because so much of this came from Crow’s POV or was about Crow. I didn’t like him. Bleeding heart liberal and doofus without a lot of common sense. Brings a frigging criminal to their house and then is all surprised when the little jerk tries to rip them off. Then all through the rest of the story he kept doing asinine things. He is a dope and not worthy of Tess at all.

Of course it is two of the three determined law-enforcement officials that are at the heart of the case. They were blackmailing a small time crook and the dead lawyer got wind of it and wanted in. Then his wife got knocked up and he wanted out. Well, he got out and because of an overly-complex cover up, Lloyd knows more than he should. Which is not a hell of a lot, but enough for Tess to get into trouble over.

One thing I did like was the involvement of the third law-enforcement official; an officious little prick from the U.S. Attorney’s office he tried to make nicey-nice with a DEA agent from his building. The little poseur pretends he smokes so he can pally up with colleagues in his building. This was the wrong guy – Bully saw right through Poseur’s façade and figures that he and his FBI accomplice can use him. The Poseur never suspects a thing. He’s so full of himself and the assured future busting this case will bring him that he never sees his “friends” for what they are and he never sees the end coming.

Eventually it is up to Lloyd and Crow to get out of their own predicament. Crow felt that he had to protect the little criminal and hide him. But Mr. DEA and FBI found them and are gunning for them. Luck is on their side and they kill one guy before Tess can get there. The FBI guy eats his gun in desperation.

After all is said and done, Crow wants to continue to help Lloyd who, quite frankly, doesn’t seem like someone worth saving. Sure, he might have been intelligent if someone could have gotten to him sooner. But as it is, he’s lost all imagination and curiosity. He simply cannot put himself in anyone elses' shoes, imagine life in any other circumstances other than what it is now or understand another POV. He’s dense and it isn’t necessarily his fault. It ends with Crow’s offer to pay the kid’s way through school and the kid not making up his mind. Bah. Keep your money, Crow, I think it will be wasted on this punk.

Another series of book with main character PI Tess Monaghan. Her boyfriend, Crow, brought home a homeless teenager for dinner and to spend a night, not knowing that he played a part in the death of an Assistant US Attorney. Tess managed to convinced him to talk to the papers with complete anonymity. Unfortunately, it was revealed that the source came from Tess. News travelled fast and she was hounded by 3 officials from separate government bureau. Unknown to her, each of these men has their own agenda, bringing in more death as they tried to find out whom and where this homeless teenager is – eager to silence him before the actual truth is out.

Overall, this book is a good read. Each character was narrated well and you get insights on the lives of those homeless, hungry and neglected children – like Lloyd and his friend Dub, as well as corrupt officials who with no qualms, take the available advantage for their own gain and advancement. ( )

Very suspenseful mystery involving a street kid and what he knows. Tess' boyfriend brings him home after he (Lloyd) pulls a flat tire con on his car. The boy knows something about a murder and Crow goes into hiding with Lloyd leaving Tess to deal with corrupt law officials. ( )

Couldn't love these characters, though they were pleasant enough. Was a little put off by Crow's passivity. (Others may find that appealing.) Tess's band of friends are mildly amusing.

For my taste, and I do think this is a matter of taste, there was a little too much reliance on stock: the street kid, all the federal agents, the angelic mama in the minivan.