Fine Points Malice And Payback

PART ONE-MALICE. Young, untested rookie Tucson Detective Andrew Coates is abruptly thrown into the deep end of a high-profile homicide investigation. After months in a windowless room reading through hundreds of cold-case files Andrew qualifies previously missed clues to three unsolved murders as those of a single vicious killer. With a sudden fourth victim identified by the same cause of death, Andrew's captain assigns the new open case to a worried novice. But as clue after clue begins to point to the very captain who assigned him the case to solve, he's at an ethical crossroads. Then a fifth victim adds another complicated layer. When the harried young detective begins to fall for Lena the sister of victim five, the mystery of his own life intrudes. Abandoned at birth then raised in foster care Andrew has no idea who he is... PART TWO-PAYBACK. With his first major homicide investigation solved, no longer considered a rookie Detective Andrew Coates barely has twenty-four hours to catch his professional breath. While still struggling with his growing feelings for Lena he's ordered to investigate the suspicious death of a prominent local department store owner. Initially with no apparent cause of death and no obvious murder weapon the young investigator hopes the medical examiner can help. Days interviewing family, friends, store associates and digging into the victim's past yield's several possible motives, by several suspects. Juggling a second prominent homicide investigation and questioning a future with Lena almost upends him personally, util Lena's father and Andrew's former social worker offer clues to his birth mystery.