The Prince of Palos Verdes — Stephen Smoke

Justin Wright is a collector...of things and people. Nothing in his multi-billion dollar empire was more precious to him than his wife, Judy. And nothing had ever threatened that empire...until the night he discovered Judy's dead body in the foyer of their Palos Verdes mansion. Sawyer Black is a retired LAPD homicide detective who now writes crime novels, some of which have been made into feature films. He leads an idyllic life in Palos Verdes and spends most evenings sipping brandy while petting fish in his koi pond and watching the sun melt into the Pacific. But his life, not unlike the lives of the characters in his novels, is not always what it seems. His marriage is in trouble, he's drinking too much...and his friend's wife has just been murdered. When Justin Wright becomes the prime suspect in his wife's murder, and his life and freedom hang in the balance, he turns to Sawyer for help. But Sawyer is not sure he can save his friend...until he saves himself.