Robin Burcell. Every Move She Makes (1999) 392 pp. [pbo]
Kate Gillespie, the first female homicide detective in the San Francisco Police Department, and her partner, Sam Scolari, are investigating the discovery of a frozen body in pharmaceutical company’s warehouse. When Sam’s wife, the coroner on the case, is murdered it looks as if the SoMa Slasher, a serial killer who has been terrorizing the city, has struck again. However, Sam’s sudden disappearance leads everyone to think he is the murderer. Kate sets out to solve the mystery and prove his innocence. Complicating the situation are three men competing for her attention: Mike Torrance, the Internal Affairs investigator following Kate in the hope that she’ll lead him to Sam; her ex-husband, DA Investigator Reid Bettencourt; and Nicholas Paolini, a local crime boss against whom Kate is about to testify and who has been making threats on her life. Author Burcell has been a police officer in Northern California since 1983.