She Had to Die

Ruby Stanton is young, beautiful, envied. But some say her heart is as cold as her hair is fiery.

In the flashing light of a neon sign, Detective Hugo August is drawn by the siren's call of her beauty. But Ruby is dead. Shot through the heart in a sleazy motel room in no man's land. Who wanted her dead?

In the sweltering heat of a Mobile summer, Hugo and his partner, Junior Knight, must unravel her love-hate relationships from the socially prominent to the lowly beat cop to find a motive and a murderer. They're out of their jurisdiction, in unfamiliar territory, and the locals resent their presence.

But Ruby isn't the only victim. With a tropical depression ravaging the coast, Hugo's outrage over another death is compounded by a devastating blow to his own heart, a betrayal that strikes at his core and reopens the door to the memories of Vietnam. As he struggles against the darkness within, he clings to his true north: justice.

Someone is covering their tracks, and the suspect pool grows larger. What's going on at The Thunderbird Inn? Why didn't anyone hear anything? And why is everyone afraid to talk?