Inspector Rebecca Mayfield, a homicide detective with the San Francisco Police Department, is a strictly by-the-book cop. Outside of work, she lives quietly in a small, not quite legal in-law apartment, with her dog, Spike, who is a hairless Chinese Crested-Chihuahua mix.

And then one fine Saturday night, she gets called to Big Caesar's, a popular, fancy club where there has just been a shooting. There's one dead woman, and one suspect, caught standing over the body with the gun in his hand. He has a crazy story about being innocent, and seeing the actual killer leave via the window.

This suspect is Richie Amalfi, a charming, handsome businessman whose business and actual source of income isn't entirely clear. Richie, though, is "practically family" at Mayfield's home police station, with his niece engaged to marry another Inspector there. And however skeptical Mayfield and others are about his source of income, he has absolutely no record of violence. Yet, he's been caught red-handed, right?

Mayfield questions the witnesses, while her partner takes Amalfi in for booking. Or, rather, he tries to. Amalfi quickly gives him the slip. Mayfield finds this out when she finally gets home--and finds Richie Amalfi waiting for her, and getting an unusually warm welcome from Spike, who usually is cool and standoffish with strangers (a typical Chinese Crested trait, by the way.)

Richie Amalfi wants her help proving he's innocent. Somehow, he convinces her, not exactly that it's a good idea, but to go along with it, nevertheless. Just for a day. Really.

Soon they're chasing all over San Francisco, looking for the missing bookkeeper, or rather, as it turns out, the bookie, who works at Big Caesar's, his mistress, his wife, a friend of the dead woman, and a newspaper reporter whose career isn't going anywhere, and who, it turns out, had agreed to ghostwrite a book for Danny the bookie, whose clients would not be happy to find out about Danny's book.

The local criminal gangs get interested, too. It's soon not at all clear that either Richie or Rebecca will survive.

However! I can assure you that, as in all well-organized novels, the dog does survive, without a scratch.

It's an enjoyable mystery, if a little bit stereotypical in parts.

I bought this book. ( )

Rebecca Mayfield has been a by-the-book cop until Richie Amalfi enters her life. He's accused of murder and runs to Rebecca to help him prove his innocence. The more she learns about the case, the more convinced she becomes that he's not guilty. He's more than a little shady, but as dangers lurk and more deaths happen, Rebecca discovers there's a lot more to Richie than she thought, and a lot more to like than she imagined. Soon, she fears not only for her life, but also her heart.

law-enforcement, murder-investigation

Quick and somewhat unusual for a whodunit. I liked it, but I'm not suitably motivated to read more of the series. ( )

This is an entertaining, fairly twisty murder mystery, with sparks between the two main characters. In that, it's similar to Jennifer Cruisie's books, which is a high standard for me!

While this is the first in the series, there is apparently a previous novella, and this book references it enough that, if you like it, you will probably want to read the prequel.

Rebecca is a by-the-book homicide detective. Richie is a rogue, with odd friends and an "interesting" past. When it looks like Richie had committed murder, he runs- and Rebecca is pulled well outside her comfort zone working with him to solve the murder(s).

Both Rebecca and Richie are very well-developed characters, and the secondary ones are complex as well- not merely plot devices, but actual people with their own agendas. This is a lot of what makes a book enjoyable for me- when the plot develops from character, instead of the characters serving only to progress the plot!

I am curious about how Rebecca's and Richie's relationship, such as it is, proceeds! There are certainly a LOT of obstacles in its way, both external and internal!

Very recommended, if you like a complex mystery that is nonetheless more focused on character development, and with a bit of romance. ( )

Richie Amalfi is accused of killing his date at Big Caeser's Casino. Rebecca Mayfield is the detective on the case. When Richie escapes and finds his way to Rebecca's, he has to convince her that they need to work together to find the killer since it was not him.

I like these characters. Humor lurks behind the scenes as Richie is trying to find the killers and Rebecca is trying to decide what is the right thing to do because he gets more attractive the longer he is around her. I like Vito and Shay. They are resourceful in a way the police cannot be. I have my doubts about her partner. Something is not quite right there. The story was a good murder mystery. I was guessing to the end.

I look forward to Rebecca's next adventure. ( )