Cold Day in Hell, A
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4.4 • 7 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Fans of Michael Connelly and Steve Cavanagh’s courtroom dramas with plenty of twists and turns will love this first entry in the Cold Case Investigation series.
It’s an understatement to say Cold Case Detective Lauren Riley and defense attorney Frank Violanti don’t get along. While on opposite sides in the courtroom Frank’s called Lauren a sloppy cop he doesn’t trust. She considers him an obnoxious bully. Now Frank needs her help: he wants to hire her as a private investigator.
Frank’s eighteen-year-old godson, David, is accused of the rape and brutal murder of a local woman. Frank’s convinced David’s being set up and he needs Lauren’s help to prove it. Lauren doesn’t want to get involved in another jurisdiction’s homicide case, but things change when she learns the arresting officer is the one man Lauren hates more than Frank . . . her abusive former fiancé, Joe Wheeler.
After meeting David, Lauren’s determined to prove his innocence and stand up to Joe in one fell swoop.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Buffalo, N.Y., cold case detective Lauren Riley, the heroine of Redmond's promising first novel and series launch, is also a licensed PI. It's in that latter capacity that lawyer Frank Violanti, with whom Lauren has tangled in court, hires her. His 18-year-old godson, David Spencer, has been charged with the second-degree murder of Katherine Vine, a customer at the store where he worked. He claims she lured him into her car one night and was still alive when he left her after an hour of wild sex. Lauren is dismayed to learn that the lead detective in the case is her ex-fianc , the abusive Joe Wheeler, who, after discovering she's working for Frank, punches her in the face. In contrast, Lauren's married ex-husband, Mark Hathaway, with whom she's having an affair, is glad to provide information about the victim and her husband, whom he knows socially. Redmond, a recently retired Buffalo PD homicide detective, keeps everything moving nicely in this well-constructed crime novel, marred only by the cartoonish Joe.
Customer Reviews
Recommended
Classic hard-bitten PI fare with a tough, yet sensitive, woman protagonist. Interesting mystery. The court scenes near the end of the book are the best part. I’m immediately jumping into the next book of the series.