Book Preview FOUR DECADES OF detective work had taught Decker a thing or two. One of the delights of Missing Persons cases was that they often had happy endings. But sometimes not. Because people disappear for a variety of reasons. Some individuals vanished by accident: a wrong turn on a hiking trail or a rogue … Read more
Book Preview Because the murder had been kept “secret” for so long, it had taken on mythological proportions. Yet here was the proof, the tangible evidence that it really had happened. In the dead of night, in the privacy of her own home, Rina gingerly slit open the manila envelope postmarked from Munich and, with … Read more
Book Preview ALSO BY FAYE KELLERMAN The Ritual Bath Sacred and Profane The Quality of Mercy Milk and Honey Day of Atonement False Prophet Grievous Sin Sanctuary Justice Prayers for the Dead Serpent’s Tooth Moon Music Jupiter’s Bones Stalker The Forgotten Stone Kiss Street Dreams Double Homicide (with Jonathan Kellerman) ALSO BY FAYE KELLERMAN Double … Read more
Book Preview I am very pleased to be part of eBooks and the twenty-first century. For many years, I resisted being part of the web, happily pounding out my books on an old IBM double drive DOS system computer. I still have it somewhere and I’m sure it works just fine. In the changeable world … Read more
Book Preview It should have happened at night, in a secluded corner of a dimly lit parking lot. Instead, it occurred at one twenty-five in the afternoon. Farin knew the time because she had peeked through the car window, gla ncing at the clock in her Volvo — purportedly one of the safest cars on … Read more
Book Preview The call was a surprise; the reason behind it even more so. Though Rina had known Honey Klein née Hersh for years — the two girls had been classmates — she had never considered her a close friend. Their small Orthodox high school had had a student body of eighty-seven at the time … Read more
Book Preview You can keep your white Christmas, thought Decker dreamily, as sunlight blanketed his prone frame. Give me December in L.A. anytime. Currier and Ives snowscapes looked swell on wrapping paper, but as far as he was concerned, icy Christmas winters were best left to penguins and polar bears. Besides, he wasn’t really sure … Read more
Book Preview “The key to a good potato kugel is good potatoes,” Sarah Libba shouted over the noise of the blow dryer. “The key to a great potato kugel is the amount of oil. You have to use just enough oil to make the batter moist, plus a little excess to leak out around the … Read more
Book Preview As I see the first hint of sunlight, the death march begins. We advance toward the Terriero do Paco — the great city square adjacent to the Royal Palace on the seafront. Leading the processional is Don Henrique — the Inquisitor General of Portugal by appointment of his older brother, His Royal Highness … Read more
Book Preview “This is a team effort, Grace. You know that.” Even through morphine-laden stupor, Grace knew that. From her hospital bed, she looked up at her doctor’s face — a study in strength. Good, solid features. A well-boned forehead, Roman nose and a pronounced chin, midnight blue eyes that burned fire, tar-black hair streaked … Read more
Book Preview For Jonathan, Mom, and the children: Special thanks to Phillip Roland, Community Partnership Coordinator, Sharon Masada, Senior Law Enforcement Official, and Detective Sergeant William Keeton (Ret.) of the LVMPD for their invaluable help, and for being so generous with their time. Any inaccuracies in place and procedure are mine, not theirs. Read the full book by downloading … Read more
Book Preview The flutter of movement was so slight that had Decker not been a pro, he would have missed it. He yanked the wheel to the left and braked. The brown unmarked screeched, bucked, then rebelliously reversed directions in the middle of the empty intersection. Decker began to cruise down the vacant street, hoping … Read more
Book Preview TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, they were called nerds. Today, they’re called billionaires. Even among outcasts, Genoa Greeves suffered more than most. Saddled with a weird name — her parents’ love for Italy produced two other children, Pisa and Roma — and a gawky frame, Genoa spent her adolescence in retreat. She talked if spoken … Read more
Book Preview He saw the flash before he heard the pop. The percussive ppffft that almost drowned out the moan. The head snapped back, lolling from side to side, then finally found a resting place slumped over the right shoulder. As blood dripped from between the eyes, he wondered if the bastard had ever felt … Read more
Book Preview Contents Chapter One THE PICTURES HAD photographed her swollen, battered, and bruised—a puffy… Chapter Two STRAIGHT OUT OF a Diego Rivera painting, he showed up… Chapter Three AS LONG AS Decker was in the city—about twenty miles… Chapter Four THE CAR WAS quiet on the way home, the boy… Chapter Five AT TWO … Read more
Book Preview Chapter One It was bad news walking through the door. They were coming his way: five of them—three guys, two girls—all of them looking older than him by a couple of years but probably still in high school. The guys had some muscle, but none of them was steroidal, meaning he could take … Read more
Book Preview Her first sound was more bleat than wail, but she had ten fingers and ten toes, and that was all Decker cared about. Wrinkled and red, her skin covered with something akin to cold cream, she seemed perturbed by the world rather than scared by it. Decker watched as Georgina, the labor nurse, … Read more
Book Preview The Garden of Eden “The Garden of Eden” is an original Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus tale written specifically for this anthology. It combines my love of gardening with my love of mystery writing. I gave my protagonist, Rina, gardening as a hobby because she’s a nurturing person, and planting a garden is a way … Read more