Doing the Devil's Work

A gripping third chapter for one of the most unforgettable and compelling heroines in crime fiction"You have a temper, Officer Coughlin, and a propensity for violence . . . You're a bit of a hazard. To others. To yourself."Maureen Coughlin is a bona fide New Orleans cop now, and, with her training days behind her, she likes to think she's getting the lay of the land. Then a mysterious corpse leads to more questions than answers, and a late-night traffic stop goes very wrong. The fallout leaves Maureen contending with troubled friends, fraying loyalties, cop-hating enemies old and new, and an elusive, spectral, and murderous new nemesis—and all the while navigating the twists and turns of a city and a police department infected with dysfunction and corruption. Bill Loehfelm is a rising star in crime fiction. And his Maureen Coughlin is the perfect protagonist: complicated, strong-willed, sympathetic (except when she's not), and as fully realized in Loehfelm's extraordinary portrayal as the New Orleans she patrols. The first two installments in this series won Loehfelm accolades as well as fans, and Doing the Devil's Work only ups the ante. It's even faster, sharper, and more thrilling than its predecessors. Taut and fiery, vibrant and gritty, and peopled with unforgettable characters, this is the sinuous, provocative story of a good cop struggling painfully into her own.ABA IndieNext Selection for January, 2015