Fey, perhaps one of the toughest and sharpest woman cops in fiction, has worked her way up the ranks to supervise West LA's homicide unit. But even Fey is surprised when the chief of police himself removes a murder case from the department's prestigious Robbery-Homicide Division (remember the OJ case?) and assigns it to her team with orders to wrap it up as quickly as possible.

And it looks like that shouldn't take very long. This case appears to be a simple one: a brilliant, decorated cop is shot by his pregnant wife in broad daylight in front of a busy police station. Piece of cake. Except the victim, Alex Waverly, was already dead, and not from natural causes, when his wife shot him.

Buoyed by her crack team of Monk, Hammer and Nails, and Alphabet and Brindle, who are all fascinating characters (and partnerships) in their own right, Fey soon realizes her open and shut case is not so simple. She finds herself in the middle of a power struggle in the police department that will test not only her investigative skills but her personal loyalty and integrity.

While the identities of Tequila Mockingbird's evildoers are revealed fairly early, it doesn't lessen the suspense of taking them down or the insights revealed of the inner workings and politics of a huge police department.

After following Fey through the first Croaker novels, which included some personal tragedies that shaped the tough leader she is today, I can report that the series gets better and better. Paul Bishop knows what he writes. As a 20 year LA police veteran, he's lived it. I anxiously await the next Fey Croaker novel.

--Dede Anderson