FACE OF GREED launched James L'Etoile’s Detective Emily Hunter series. Sacramento detectives Hunter and Javier Medina return in the most intriguing police procedural mystery I’ve enjoyed in a decade. Witty, realistic banter amongst the detectives adds flavor and softens the harsh reality of homeless camps, “[a] community trying to make a safe refuge in a sea of hostility.”

"The plot has more twists and turns than a California cloverleaf, and the asteroid impact-like conclusion will stun readers."

Hunter is dealing with her mom’s memory issues and trying to relocate her to a suitable care facility, when she’s summoned to a fatal fire with mass casualties in a homeless camp at Sacramento River. One singed body has a deep gash in the head but sports expensive garb: former Mayor John Stone. Clinging to life is burn victim Lisa Larkin, whose young daughter, Willow, is found hiding near the river.

The detective duo arrives the next morning to find the crime scene bulldozed into a slash pile, an order from City Hall. The body of a social worker is found in that heap of demolished tents and shelters, the third homeless camp razed in two weeks.

Hunter’s homicide investigation encounters political pushback from current mayor Ellen Carsten’s henchman, Ryan Jensen. The homeless sites had been located on city-owned property --- land-approved to build condo complexes. Hunter follows the money trail into a virtual rabbit warren of suspects, clues and dead ends. She and Medina had “burned the better part of the day, taffy-pulling a confession from a” suspect.

The plot has more twists and turns than a California cloverleaf, and the asteroid impact-like conclusion will stun readers. The French word l’étoile translates to “the star” in English. That, the author certainly is. Five stars for RIVER OF LIES.