Police Business by Julie MillerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
From Ms. Miller's website: "Police Business Book #2 in the Precinct
Cop in Shining Armor
While investigating a reported crime, Detective A.J. Rodriguez discovered there wasn't a trace of any murder having been committed! But hearing-impaired heiress Claire Winthrop insisted she'd stumbled upon a slain employee in her father's high-rise building and claimed she could ID the hit man. Although the lack of evidence pointed to an open-and-shut case of a pampered socialite clamoring for attention, A.J. sniffed a deadly cover-up. Powerfully drawn together, the street-tough lawman soothed the shell-shocked princess with a tantalizing kiss that bewitched both their hearts. However, when A.J. pulled Claire into his dark, dangerous world, he knew he'd better stick to police business---or the killer could permanently silence his beloved witness . . ."
Ms. Miller penned a great mystery here that had you guessing until the end. Her ability to take the little things we (as hearing individuals) take for granted and spin it into a comprehensive, complex story was just amazing. And the players involved – the father, the uncle, the security chief, the secretary, the temp – they all had me second guessing myself at every turn about what happened and whodunit.
If you’ve been reading the Taylor Clan/Precinct series from the beginning, you’ll recognize A.J. as youngest Taylor brother Josh’s partner from The Rookie. I had pegged A.J. as sort of the serious workaholic compared to Josh’s more laid back temperament but I didn’t realize until this story just how far it went. You get to see who Josh and A.J. work together in the Prologue for this story if you didn’t get to read the other.
His father had been trying to tell A.J. something was going on at the company where his father worked as a janitor but it didn’t weigh high enough on rebellious teen A.J.’s list of priorities at the time for him to be concerned. Then his father is murdered and his whole life is flipped on its axis.
A.J. straightens out his life and becomes a cop but he hasn’t been able to bring his father’s killer to justice. When the Fourth Precinct receives a call from the very company his father used to work for, he figures this might be his chance.
When he gets there, he finds the owner’s daughter, Claire, claiming she witnessed a murder. Only there’s no body. No blood. No evidence at all that a crime has been committed. Even when the woman Claire thought was murdered calls from vacation to say she’s fine, the seemingly pampered socialite doesn’t change her story. Only there seems to be too many people in her social circle trying to pressure her to do just that.
Did she or didn’t she see someone murdered? Is this murder related to what happened to his father? What would the killer do to Claire when he realized he’d left a witness?
If I told you the answers, you wouldn’t read the book. And if you like ultimate suspense and mystery with a healthy dose of tender romance and awe-inspiring love, this is definitely one you’d want to tag for your TBR pile. Pick it up now at Amazon and check out Ms. Miller’s site for more information on these books and more.
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