The late show

4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. This book introduces a new series regular, Det. Renee Ballard. She filed a sexual harassment complaint against a popular Lt. Her partner witnessed the incident, but refused to back her story and the complaint was denied. As punishment, Ballard was transferred out of the prestigious unit and moved to the night shift in Hollywood. There, she starts many investigations, but at the end of her shift has to turn them over to the day shift, never getting to follow through with any of them.

One night she and her partner catch 2 cases that Ballard doesn’t want to turn over. One is the brutal beating of a transgender prostitute left for dead, the other the murder of 4 people in a nightclub. The nightclub investigation team is being lead by the Lt. she filed the complaint against, which includes her former partner. Against orders, and her partners’ wishes, she continues to investigate both cases during the day on the sly. As both investigations heat up, however, she realizes her off-the-books investigations are unearthing greater evils and putting her life in jeopardy.

This book was fast-paced, action-packed, with plenty of twists and turns. It was a fun read and I will definitely read more books in this series.