J.L. Abramo. Catching Water in a Net (2001) 230 pp.
Los Angeles private eye Jimmy Pigeon is murdered, and his former protégée in the shamus business, Jake Diamond, is determined to find out why. Diamond—now operating in San Francisco—soon discovers that Pigeon was in a business dispute with his partner, Harry Harding, about whether to sell their Internet bounty-hunting business, Ex-Con.com. When Harding is also murdered, Diamond becomes a suspect. Forced to solicit help from two mob bosses and his ex-wife’s family, dodge the thugs of another gangster, and keep the police at bay, Diamond goes on the lam, running between San Francisco and Los Angeles as he searches for the real murderer. This novel was the winner of the 2000 Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin’s Press Award for Best First Private Eye Novel.