A murder in quiet Adobe? The mayor was the dead man? With a newly appointed acting chief in charge, could this small police force solve the crime? Could Acting Chief Gianna DeAngelis catch a killer? Murder was not what Gianna had anticipated when she took the job of commander for the city of Adobe’s police department two years ago. Disillusioned by years of big-city police work, she had moved to this out-of-the-way community to find renewed purpose in her chosen profession. Things had gone well, and Gianna was mostly satisfied with her work. Her boss, Chief Joe, handled the “paper pushing” and “schmoozing,” while she took care of “the bad guys,” not that there were many in this safe town. When Chief Joe retired, Mayor Bill Carlisle offered Gianna the job. Though she agreed to serve as the interim chief, “Get someone else for the bureaucracy and politics,” she told him. “I’ll stick with the bad guys.” She had not expected the bad guys to be murderers. She was the top cop now. If there were killers out there, it was her job to find them. Gianna begins her homicide investigative trail on a literal trail, a rough, unofficial path through a rock-filled arroyo where the body was found. What was Carlisle doing there in the dark? And who would want to kill good guy Bill? With more questions than answers, Gianna must guide her young, inexperienced force, manage a stunned city council, control an aggressive media, trust her sketchy second-in-command, and calm a shocked and frightened citizenry. As she pursues leads, gathers evidence, and listens to her trusted intuitive instincts, Gianna learns more about her adopted town and its people, including their secrets — knowledge that causes her to experience doubts about her ability to be objective and adhere to her high standards of what a good cop should be. As the trail narrows, will Gianna be able to conquer her doubts and catch a killer