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Publisher Description
In the shadows of the Golden Gate Bridge, Hastings investigates a glamorous murder
The killer is long gone from the crime scene when he realizes his mistake. It went perfectly, right until the end. He lured Lisa to the oceanfront park, entered her car on the passenger side, shot her twice, and escaped without being stained by her blood. He took the gun with him, as planned—but he forgot her purse, the crucial detail meant to make the crime look like a robbery. It was a simple mistake, but it could cost him everything.
It does not take long for Lieutenant Frank Hastings to notice the purse—nor is he slow to notice the victim's beauty. Lisa Franklin was a self-described courtesan, a would-be poet who paid her rent by lavishing affection on San Francisco's rich and powerful. As Hastings combs through her client list, he is confronted with one vital question: Which captain of industry was foolish enough to leave the purse behind?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The 19th appearance of San Francisco's Lt. Frank Hastings is a somewhat disappointing offering from one of the masters of the procedural. The body of Lisa Franklin is found in a park near the Presidio district. Lisa, a self-described courtesan, leaves behind three volumes of tortured poetry and several wealthy San Francisco businessmen with some explaining to do. As usual, Wilcox ( Dead Aim ) makes shrewd use of mise-en-scene and meticulously maps out the movement of his plot, but he trips over the relationship that develops between former football player Hastings and female cop Janet Collier. While interrogating the businessmen and quizzing two drug burnouts living in the apartment below the victim's, Hastings and Collier indulge in an overwrought romantic entanglement that doesn't square with the rest of the tale. Wilcox's aim is also off in regard to the killer, whose interspersed musings don't fully mesh with the character as revealed to the reader.
