Lita Mendez was a thorn in the LAPD’s side. An aggressive police critic and gang activist, she’d filed countless complaints against the department. So when she’s found dead in her home, Shane and Hitch fear the worst: that there’s a killer in their ranks.Outside the crime scene, Nixon Nash, the charismatic host of a hit reality show called Vigilante TV, has set up shop with his television crew. Nash’s show is dedicated to beating the cops at their own game, solving murders before they can. Now he has the murder of Lita Mendez in his sights and he presents the detectives with a choice: either join his team or prepare for a public takedown.But Scully suspects that Nash isn’t the folk hero he seems. If a detective got in his way, just how far would the TV host go in the name of self-promotion? On the heels of The Prostitutes’ Ball, called “the best Scully yet” (Kirkus Reviews) and “perfectly fresh” (Booklist), this new novel from the celebrated author has Detective Scully risking everything to save himself, his family, and the job he loves.Praise for Stephen J. Cannell“A master storyteller.” ―Michael Connelly“A great storyteller who keeps you nailed to the page.” ―Ted Bell“Cannell is the gold in crime fiction.” ―Stephen Coonts

It’s a few days before Christmas when Detective Shane Scully and his wife, Alexa, respond to a call in the Hollywood Hills. The crime scene is the pristine backyard swimming pool of a once immaculate mansion on Skyline Drive, the site of an infamous murder decades prior, in which a family was killed in cold blood on Christmas Eve. In the ensuing years, the house has been shuttered and left exactly as it stood on that terrible night. Shane and Alexa arrive to discover the aftermath of a lavish party. The revelers have fled, leaving three dead bodies, all shot with the same gun. One is acclaimed film producer Scott Berman. The others, a pair of gorgeous women in their early twenties. Scully is assigned to the case along with his new partner, Sumner Hitchens. Hitch has a reputation in the department as a self-promoter; he sold the story rights to one of his cases to a film production company — and he has the millions to show for it. Scully and Hitch begin to investigate, and the case looks to be open-and-shut: The two young women were hired prostitutes, and there’s a security video of an angry husband firing on all three. A simple case of revenge. But there’s a catch: The detectives discover a single spent bullet casing that doesn’t match the rest. From that single bullet emerges a story that spans thirty years — a tale of love, murder, suicide, and one of the biggest financial frauds in L.A. history. It’s a story fit for the screen — and Hitch is determined to get it there, no matter what it takes. But someone has gone to great lengths to cover up the crime, and as Scully and Hitch get closer to the answer, they find themselves in a killer’s crosshairs. The case could be the makings of a blockbuster Hollywood film — but only if Scully gets out of it alive.

Asked by beautiful Internal Affairs detective Secada 'Scout' Llevar to help investigate the claims of small-time crook Truit Hickman, convicted of killing his mother, that he has been framed by the police, Shane Scully takes on a violent Hispanic gang, a millionaire powerbroker, and a frontrunner in L.A's mayoral race, risking his family, his job, and his life to uncover the truth. Simultaneous.