LEFT FOR DEAD

An ex-detective is never too busy to help out a friend.

Ali Reynolds, former reporter and police officer, is busy creating a new garden in mystical Sedona, Ariz., and dealing with her parents’ sudden decision to sell their restaurant and house and move on to new adventures. Then she receives a call from a former police academy classmate that another classmate has been shot and is in critical condition with his pregnant wife and two kids at his side. Ali heads for Physicians Medical Center in Tucson, where she also discovers her friend Sister Amselm, a patient advocate for an unidentified young woman found raped and badly beaten in the desert. Ali’s old buddy Jose Reyes is suspected of drug dealing, since drugs and money were found in his police car and home after he was shot in what he called a routine traffic stop on a deserted side road. Jose’s wife Teresa is trying to cope with the accusation, two frustrated little girls and an ex-mother-in-law who blames her for her son’s death and hints that she may try to get custody of the children. No wonder Teresa must have an emergency C-section, leaving Ali to deal with all the other problems. Sister Anselm realizes that her charge is not the illegal resident the border patrol dumped in the hospital, but a young girl whose family has been looking for her for years. Now she may be the key to catching a serial killer who tortures his victims before consigning them to the desert. It’s up to Ali to find out who’s framed Jose and help Sister track down a dangerous man.

Loyal fans and newcomers alike will be glad to join feisty Ali (Fatal Error, 2011, etc.) in her latest adventure.