Winner of the Mariposa Award for Best First Novel Phoenix detective Veranda Cruz is dead set on taking down the Villalobos crime family, but the ruthlessness of her quarry demands a ruthless edge of her own. No one in the department suspects the real motivation behind the obsession that pits her against Bartolo Villalobos, heir apparent to a powerful criminal empire . . . until an operation goes horribly wrong. Targeted by an increasingly unstable foe, Veranda must protect her family and navigate adversaries within the force while she sets a trap for Bartolo. As the action heats up, Veranda and her new Homicide team-along with an arson investigator who kindles a flame of his own-are all drawn into a deadly gambit. Taking down Bartolo is the ultimate goal, but is Veranda ready to trade her life for justice? Contains mature themes.