Fortune Cookie Karma — L.F. Crawford

The murder of a Beverly Hills psychic - fifth victim of the Ice Pick Killer - drafts Detective Art Murry and his partner Billy Kidman into a special LAPD task force, where Murry's intuitive hunches are ignored in favor of fitting together the "facts" that, so far, have led nowhere. But when Murry's intuition turns to psychic flashes, he sees a vision of his girlfriend, Medical Examiner Mary Eclair. She's dead, ice picks through her hands and feet. To try and save the woman he loves, Murry alienates his boss and his partner, risking his job and his life to find the killer. Billy, irritated at Murry's lack of communication and spooked by Chinese fortune cookies of doom, threatens to transfer to a different department where he'll have the opportunity to head his own investigations. The Ice Pick Killer has his own troubles. A burglar cleaned out his safe: cash, jewelry, and the set of ice picks intended for his next victim. To protect his identity, he must get the picks back. Ice Pick, an actor and make-up artist, masquerades as anyone from a priest to a security specialist, whatever it takes to win his victims' trust. And he already has his next victim - Mary Eclair - in his sights. While Murry follows a slim thread from a reported burglary to a dead thief, Ice Pick sets the trap for Eclair. Will Murry be able to sort through the clues in time to prevent her death? The breakneck pace of Fortune Cookie Karma hurtles the reader from murder on the first page to an explosive, skin-prickling conclusion.

L. F. Crawford is the author of twelve novels, including two bestsellers. She won the Eppie award for Best Mystery Novel in 2000. Crawford lives with her husband and daughter in California.