It's Raining Men: An Emma Price Mystery

At the start of Rand's fast-moving third Emma Price mystery (after 2003's Stealing for a Living), the lead investigator for the New York Capital Crimes division awakens in a hospital after a brutal beating. As Emma reconstructs what happened to her-the call from her boss and best friend, Dawn Prescott, the meeting, the abduction, the beating and her escape-she learns of Dawn's disappearance and subsequent murder. Convinced that Dawn's death was connected to a case they were working on, Emma pursues the truth at her peril. Some major personal concerns distract: a teenage son with raging hormones; a self-absorbed ex-husband, who's a film director now remarried to an angry young woman; and an old house she's refurbishing. In addition, Dawn's wealthy and self-centered parents cause stress. But the murder inquiry takes top priority and Emma superbly handles it all with the help of her boyfriend, Det. Laurence Solomon. An astute sleuth, Emma pulls together a multitude of characters and a complicated and challenging mystery.