Ladies of the Lake: A Mystery Novel

Stony Sturm is a disabled former police detective who was forced into retirement from the LAPD. Departing under a cloud of suspicion after his partner was murdered. For several years since then has been idling away his days. A wealthy San Diego criminal lawyer approaches him at his favorite Donut Shop demanding that he opens up a cold murder case. The lawyer's young daughter in-law, Melody, was discovered at Lake Perris; nude, raped and murdered. No one has been caught nor punished. The Riverside Police maintain she was a victim of a serial killer who murdered twelve women. The serial killer ended his killing spree after her murder. The police claim he is dead or has disappeared. Stony, an uncertain middle-aged man is reluctantly drawn back into the criminal investigation of Melody's murder as a private investigator. He rapidly rediscovers his previous skills and investigates relentlessly in spite of major objections of the police and politicians. With the able support of Alice Persia, the lawyer's executive assistant and the protection of Howard Youngfeather, a former special services soldier, Stony uncovers a series of unanticipated criminal operations, including a major government scandal. In the process of solving Melody's murder he witnesses an explosive assassination of a senior gang snitch, and avoids an attempted IED attack upon himself. What seemed like a straight forward murder investigation leads him into a complicated venture involving MS-13 gangs and government perfidy. A former Sheriff who assisted Stony is brutally murdered. A raw unrelenting story of a man who finds himself and the truth, which exposes many issues of today's complex convoluted world of crime, politics and corruption. A gripping mystery story, of diligent sleuthing, and raw revenge, that builds to an explosive conclusion.