The Black Book

At the start of bestseller Patterson’s brilliantly twisty fourth collaboration with Ellis (after 2015’s Murder House), Det. Patti Harney of the Chicago PD visits a horrific crime scene at a luxury condo. Det. Kate Fenton lies dead of a bullet wound on the bedroom carpet; on the bed are the naked bodies of assistant state attorney Amy Lentini and homicide detective Billy Harney, Patti’s twin brother. It looks as if Kate shot Amy and Billy, and Billy managed to return fire and kill Kate. Amy is dead, but Billy survives, though he has no memory of what happened. Flashbacks reveal that the killings were prompted by a raid that Billy led on a high-class brothel, which netted such prominent Chicagoans as Archbishop Michael Phelan and Mayor Francis Delaney. The little black book containing the brothel’s records is missing. The state is prosecuting Billy for the shooting and hoping to save the careers of the brothel’s customers by proving the raid was unjustified. Everything is stacked against Billy, who needs an ingenious solution to escape a guilty verdict. Many readers will agree with Patterson that this is the “best book [he’s] written in 25 years.” [em]Agents: Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell, Williams & Connolly LLP. (Mar.) [/em]