“The exploration of relationships between parents and their adult children elevates this novel above most humorous mysteries, rewarding readers with an enjoyable read that induces as many warm feelings as it does laughter.”—Kings River Life Magazine

Fresh from her introduction to the dangerous world of criminals and cons in Jump the Gun, smart, sexy, and movie-crazy Annabelle Starkey flies to Portland, Oregon, to visit to her newly relocated parents. They, like Annabelle, are rebooting their lives—though the directions their new starts will take are not yet clear. Annabelle is now part of a fledgling detective agency headquartered in New York, home turf to her boyfriend, Mickey, just retired from the NYPD.

Safely arrived at her parents' home, Annabelle is ready to relax when she discovers her backpack has been switched for one holding a gun—a gun linked to a murder. Has she been set up? Or is she simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? The Portland PD isn't sure. Then a frantic young woman appears and claims the gun is hers. And, worryingly, could the man who sat next to Annabelle on the plane be stalking her?

Alarmed—and absent a gun of her own—Annabelle is armed only with wits, wisecracks, and her ability to run. Mickey and streetwise backup Luis rapidly arrive, adding boots on the ground and their seasoned crime-busting skills, but it is Annabelle who pieces together a case traversing Portland's patchwork of communities, proving to herself, her partners, and parents that, as investigator, she's got the right stuff.

Zoe Burke