Dire Straits

Retired Miami Metro-Dade police captain Marshall Frank follows up his first novel: Beyond the Call (IUniverse -- 1999) with the suspenseful Dire Straits. Set in exotic Miami, famed homicide detective Mike Estevez is called to investigate the mass murder in the lavish Cocuplum neighborhood. Only two witnesses remain: one, a male stripper, the other, a woman known only as Mirage whom is nowhere to be found. Estevez and his partner, Zeke set out to find a killer and locate their missing witness. Following a trail of bodies, Mike discovers that Mirage is closer to him than he imagined -- she's his wife Robyn. Fearful of the killer's revenge and of her husband's wrath for betraying him, Robyn goes into hiding. Leaving the hunt for the killer to the rest of his team, Mike tries to find his wife, now a fugitive, but instead, discovers a mystery about himself. Culminating with an exciting airboat ride in the Everglades where Mike and the killer meet in a head-on collision, Dire Straits is a barnburner of a novel.