At What Cost: A Detective Penley Mystery

At the start of L’Etoile’s nail-biting debut starring Det. John Penley of the Sacramento, Calif., PD, a unique gang tattoo identifies a headless and limbless torso as belonging to gang member Daniel Cardozo. Two members of different gangs were previously similarly murdered, leading Penley to conclude that a serial killer, dubbed the Outcast Killer, is at large. Later, at an abandoned warehouse where a chicken has been sacrificed, the police find a circle of melted candles and chalk drawings clearly replicating Daniel’s tattoo. Locked metal cabinets at the scene, when opened, contain a kidney on ice, which serves as a direct message from the killer to Penley, whose teenage son, Tommy, is awaiting a kidney from the transplant list. After the killer contacts Penley via the Internet asking for $10,000 to procure a kidney for Tommy, the detective, unwilling to pay the ransom, races to outwit the fiend before Tommy becomes another one of his victims. L’Etoile, who has served as an associate prison warden, keeps the suspense high throughout. Agent: Elizabeth K. Kracht, Kimberley Cameron and Associates. (Dec.)