City of Fire - Robert Ellis

When a vibrant young woman is found in bed by her hotshot businessman husband, carved from belly to throat with a very sharp knife, the elite Robbery-Homicide Division of the LAPD responds in full force. Best-case scenario for lead detective Lena Gamble: Nikki Brants husband killed her, case closed. Unfortunately for Lena, she knows that best-case scenarios only happen in the movies. The murder is only the first in a series of brutal crimes against beautiful women thought to be perpetrated by the same man, a serial killer dubbed Romeo in the press. Its the case of a lifetime, and promises to either elevate Lena to the upper echelons of a publicity-hungry LAPD in need of heroes, or bring about a very public and painful fall from grace. Lena has been in the public eye before, on the night her rock-star brother was gunned down on a dark street in Hollywood--an unsolved murder so grisly shes never recovered. As the investigation plays out and a massive forest fire blankets the city with acrid smoke, a cloud of conspiracy descends on Lenas investigation, and she knows shell have to grind this one out . . . because Nikki Brants death just breathed new life into more than one closed case . . . because the web of conspiracy is spun more intricately than she can possibly imagine . . . and because Lena knows theres only one rock solid rule to murder in L.A.: the deeper you dig, the darker it gets.

Condition: Very Good