Sharp 9th - A Skinner Malloy Mystery After a combat stint as a U.S. Marine, Skinner Malloy had a successful career in rock music - until he trashed the men who raped his band mate, Gillian Carroll. Convicted of assault and out on parole, gigs have dried up. As she tries to heal herself after the assault, Gillian needs the stability of her advertising job. But her client, Consolidated Insurance, has her fired for bogus reasons. Worse, someone is still spreading lies. Skinner and Gillian team up to find the real reason she's been fired. They discover that Consolidated employees are dying in accidents that are anything but. And haltingly, they find tender feelings for each other. Then Gillian disappears. Murder, conspiracy, corruption and attempted love, Sharp 9th reveals a world of homicide, insurance-government collusion, crooked cops, pornographers and private security goons - in which Gillian and Skinner try to find intimacy despite the emotional damage caused by rape and war.