How much does it cost to fix an election? That's the question uppermost in PI August Riordan's mind in his harrowing fourth adventure (after 2006's Candy from Strangers
). Leonora Lee, the notorious, near-mythic “Dragon Lady” of San Francisco's Chinatown, hires Riordan to look into the city's mayoral election after her candidate, Alan Chow, finishes in single digits. Lee suspects someone has been tampering with newly installed touch-screen voting machines. Riordan has until the runoff election, less than a week away, to find the answers. But more than political shenanigans are on hand: the director of elections is found dead in his office, and Riordan soon runs up against Chinatown gang members as well as powerful forces committed to preserving the political status quo. Firmly entrenched in the classic private eye mold of Hammett and Chandler, Coggins exposes the dark underbelly of American politics, but doesn't stoop to political correctness or mindless carnage. (Nov.)
