“Birdsall's tight writing style and classic cop narrative easily usher readers into Boyle's world of crime.”
—Girl Meets Fiction
Detective Liz Boyle knows there is no crime more heinous than the murder of a child. When she and her partner, Tom Goran, are called to a new scene in an area of Cleveland known as The Flats, they find that a killer has taken that to new levels.
As the investigation takes them deeper into the city’s seedy underbelly, the case hits frighteningly close to home when someone Liz loves is added to the list of possible suspects. While fighting her personal demons, she must also pick her way around the department bureaucracy to avoid being pulled from the case.
Liz and Tom will need to solve the most mind-bending mystery of their careers, one in which their personal and professional allegiances—and maybe their sanity—will be tested. But Liz vows to bring the killer to justice at any cost.
When Detective Liz Boyle receives an urgent phone call from her lieutenant on her day off, she knows the news won’t be good. She and her partner, Tom Goran, arrive at the new crime scene, which is in a cemetery located on the Cleveland/Cleveland Heights border, and discover that someone has brutally beaten a locally famous defense attorney to death.
As the investigation takes them deeper into the city’s—and the police department’s—seedy underbelly, the case begins to throw the blue wall of silence into question. Liz has a strong desire to do the right thing, but she also must pick her way around the department bureaucracy to avoid being thought a rat, an accusation that could end her career.
Liz’s dance through the gritty city threatens to finish her and her crew, including Tom and Lieutenant Fishner. Once again, Detective Liz Boyle is plunged into a case that will test her personal and professional allegiances.