Every Broken Trust: A Mystery
Police chief Marquitta “Skeet” Banion left the force in Kansas City, Missouri, to head the department at a small college campus outside the city. She was hoping for a quieter life, but murder respects no boundaries. Skeet told her best friend, Karen, that she would host a party at her home to welcome politician George “Mel” Melvin. The small gathering is morphing into a huge one, making Skeet very unhappy. Mel arrives with his entourage: trophy wife, troubled teenage daughter, wealthy backer, and mysterious employee, who may be a bodyguard. Later, Karen discovers a body in the college storage caves and is attacked herself. She also has to deal with her surly teenage ward, Brian, a gifted musician who is involved with Mel’s daughter. With a strong heroine and a nice mix of procedural detail and familial issues, this makes a good choice for fans of Steven F. Havill’s series starring Estelle Reyes-Guzman. --Barbara Bibel