Title: The king of swords
First published: 2008
Description: Miami, 1981. Cocaine Central.Murder Capital, USA.A man about to face evil.A city about to catch fire.When Detective Max Mingus and his partner, Joe Liston, are called to the scene of a death at Miami's Primate Park, it looks like another routine — if slightly bizarre — investigation. That is, until two things turn up: the victim's family, slaughtered, and a partly digested tarot card in the dead man's stomach — the King of Swords.An increasingly bloody trail leads Max and Joe first to a sinister fortune-teller and her scheming pimp son, then to the infamous Solomon Boukman. Few have ever met the most feared criminal in Miami, but rumors abound of a forked tongue, voodooesque ceremonies, and friends in very high places.Against a backdrop of black magic and police corruption, Max and Joe must distinguish the good guys from the bad — and track down some answers.What is the significance of the King of Swords? What makes those who have swallowed the card go on a killing spree just before they die? And can Max find out the truth about Solomon Boukman before death's shadow reaches his own front door?The King of Swords is a feat of black magic, combining a thrilling plot, unforgettable characters, and the uniquely menacing atmosphere that made Nick Stone's Mr. Clarinet the most celebrated crime debut of 2006.
Subjects: Fiction, Murder, Police, Investigation, Mystery, Police -- Fiction, Fiction, mystery & detective, police procedural, Miami (fla.), fiction, Fiction, mystery & detective, general, Private investigators, fiction
Places: Miami  (Fla.)
LC classification: PR6119.T675 K56 2008