Long Gone

Early in Schaffhausen’s worthy sequel to 2021’s Gone for Good, Det. Annalisa Vega of the Chicago PD and Nick Carelli, her partner and ex-husband, are called to veteran police officer Leo Hammond’s home, where they find him dead in his bedroom, shot with his own gun. Hammond’s wife insists that an intruder, dressed in a black wetsuit complete with diving mask, killed him. An obvious suspect is Moe Bocks, who had a run-in with Hammond a month earlier in a bar. Bocks is believed to have murdered his girlfriend in 1998, but he wasn’t charged for lack of evidence. That Vega’s best friend has begun dating Bocks complicates the investigation. These and other cases entwine in unexpected ways and bring Vega to the attention of a band of dirty cops. She’s soon suspected of murder, with conveniently planted evidence stacking up against her. Loads of exciting action, balanced with dramatic personal revelations and some fine nuts-and-bolts police work, keep the pages turning. Readers will look forward to the next outing for the complex, introspective Vega. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Aug.)