Ashes to Dust — Rex Kusler

Since first joining forces in Punctured, Alice James and Jim Snow have been a great -- if odd -- crime-fighting team. He's a forty-something former Las Vegas homicide detective who quit the force to become a full-time poker player. She's a model-turned-cocktail waitress whose foray into casino security led her into law enforcement. Together they are the James & James Detective Agency, and their newest case is a doozy. Jack Roberts comes to them for help solving the brutal murder of his daughter Laura, a cocktail waitress whose body was found burning in the Nevada desert. Among the suspects: an obsessive ex-boyfriend, a mentally unbalanced construction worker, a temperamental roommate, a shady fiancé…perhaps even the client himself! Alice knows that if they can crack this case, business will come pouring in. But first she will have to manage Snow's ill-timed midlife crisis and deal with the chemistry crackling between them. Ashes to Dust is pure entertainment, sure to please even the most hardboiled of mystery fans.