Presto Variations

2014 Arthur Ellis Award — Shortlisted


Following the money trail gets Tate and Brown into a lot of trouble.


Detectives Ray Tate and Djuna Brown are back from a vacation in Paris – fraudulently funded by a stolen State Police credit card. While waiting to find out if they’re going to be fired or jailed, the couple is assigned to the Green Squad, a dead-end job shuffling paper and counting contraband money. But while interrogating a money smuggler, Tate and Brown uncover a massive currency stash they hope will keep them out of jail. Their target is drug trafficker Laszlo "Marko" Markowitz, who has millions in cocaine profits to be laundered and shipped into Canada.

As Tate and Brown try to penetrate the Markowitz organization, they uncover an underworld choking on its own profits and find a homicidal madman who has created the perfect blend of criminality and anarchy.