Midnight Crossing

In Fields’s winning fifth Josie Gray mystery (after 2015’s Firebreak), the Artemis, Tex., police chief awakes around 2:00 one morning to find two young women—one shot dead, the other traumatized and scared speechless—practically in her backyard. The cool-headed Josie calls for back up. As the investigation proceeds, Josie juggles a brand new love interest, kidnapping negotiator Nick Santos, and her mother, who’s in town on a surprise visit from Indiana. Artemis’s mayor, mindful of Josie’s previous encounter with the infamous Medrano Cartel, is convinced that the two young women found so close to Josie’s house are somehow tied to the gang. As the case begins to unravel, thanks to Josie and assistant Otto Podowski’s crackerjack police work, it appears to have tentacles that reach across both state and international borders. Fields wraps a complex plot and ripped-from-the-headlines social relevance around a terrific heroine, scoring big for women in law enforcement. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. (July)