Robin Burcell. Deadly Legacy (2003) 304 pp. [pbo]
In San Francisco, Homicide Detectives Kate Gillespie and Rocky Markowski investigate what appears is a murder/suicide with two corpses inside a car. When Kate sees the female victim, she realizes she was her estranged best friend Eve Tremayne. Kate cut off her relationship with Eve because the latter was into kinky S&M. Kate and Rocky explores Eve’s residence, where they find a sex room containing adult toys and an album filled with pictures of the deceased’s clients. Kate sees a picture of her dead father and absconds with it. In its place she leaves behind a picture of her ex-husband. As Rocky takes over the lead with another cop, Kate is relegated to providing support. The SFPD digs into a violent underworld filled with treachery, duplicity and selfish cover-ups by individuals who will not lose a minute of sleep if three cops must die.

-H.K.