Murder Season

At the outset of Ellis’s moody, fast-paced third mystery featuring LAPD detective Lena Gamble (after 2009’s The Lost Witness), Lena rushes to Club 3 AM, an elite Hollywood nightspot, where two men, both shot to death, have been found: Johnny Bosco, the club’s politically well-connected owner, and 25-year-old Jacob Gant, who was recently acquitted of the rape and murder of his 16-year-old neighbor, Lily Hight. Police bungling, including misplaced blood samples, ensured Gant’s release. Faced with the unpopular task of pursuing charges against Lily’s father, the chief suspect in the double homicide, Lena discovers additional cracks in the case against Gant. As Lena clashes with ambitious district attorney Jimmy J. Higgins and unstable Dan Cobb, the lead detective in the first murder case, she grows closer to deputy DA Greg Vaughan. The suspense builds as Ellis turns a spotlight on the justice system’s flaws, though the final twist is unlikely to stump seasoned crime fans. (Dec.)