On an icy February night, the body of Steven Pleasant, a prominent Portland, Maine physician, grows cold in his parked Mercedes. All signs point to a john killed by a disgruntled hooker: his pants are unzipped, wallet is gone, and the good doctor has a reputation for entertaining girls in his car.

But the deeper Detective Sergeant Joe Burgess digs, the muddier the case becomes. While juggling hookers, wives, ex-wives, fathers, stepfathers, dealers and doctors, a nurse on Pleasant's staff suggests another angle—disgruntled patients.

Now, ensconced in the darkness of a sleeping hospital, Burgess comes face-to-face with ghosts from his past and must decide what being a detective really means.

REVIEWS:
"Dazzling debut police procedural." ~Publisher's Weekly Starred Review

"A triumph in the police procedural genre. Highly recommended." ~Library Journal Starred Review

"I loved this book. I recommend it to anyone who loves police procedurals, traditional mysteries, suspense." ~Crimespree Magazine

THE JOE BURGESS MYSTERIES, in series order
Playing God
The Angel of Knowlton Park
Redemption

ABOUT KATE FLORA
Kate Flora developed her fascination with people's criminal tendencies as a lawyer in the Maine attorney general's office. When Kate isn't writing, or teaching writing at Grub Street in Boston, she can be found in her garden, waging battle against critters, pests, and her husband's lawnmower.