Deborah Grabien. Still Life With Devils (2007) 218 pp. [tpo]
Publisher’s description: “It’s mid-October in San Francisco and a serial killer the police have named Captain Nemo has just claimed his sixth pregnant victim. As tensions rise, two people work desperately to find the killer before he claims number seven. Homicide chief and single father Cassius Chant is desperate. Whoever Nemo is, he’s left no evidence beyond an ever-lengthening line of dead women. Finally, a witness to the sixth murder comes forward. Involving his artist sister Leontyne is the last thing Cassy wants to do, but with a possible eyewitness and the staff artist out sick, he has no choice. Only when Leo draws the killer’s face does Cassy begin to believe he will finally unravel the twisted threads of this case. While Cassy pursues leads that may lead to justice, Leo knows she can find and face this demon alone. She's drawn that face before and she has a gift that transcends her artistic skill. Leo can walk into the worlds she’s created on canvas. This time she’s going to do it to find a killer.”
Setting: San Francisco (Chinatown)