Last Rights — Philip Shelby

From the author of the stunning bestseller Days of Drums comes a novel of Washington intrigue that thrusts the reader into a whirlwind of murder spawned by elaborately masked scandals in the corridors of power.

When General Griffin North, a highly decorated African American icon, is killed in a suspicious plane crash, the special commission, led by renowned federal judge Simon Esterhaus, deems it a tragic accident caused by pilot error.

But Mollie Smith of the Criminal Investigation Division vows to keep the investigation alive -- single-handedly and on her own terms, if necessary. Certain the General was assassinated, and keenly aware that certain officials in high places would have stopped at nothing to keep a black man from a possible vice-presidential nomination, Mollie intensifies the pitch of her inquiry.

Then Mollie -- her investigation nearly complete -- is found murdered. Rachel Collins, Mollie's protégé and close friend, is left to pick up the scent of conspiracy enveloping the dead. With the help of Mollie's brother, Logan, the head of the hermetically sealed FBI team tracking domestic terrorists, Rachel comes head to head with the Engineer, an ingenious and ruthless killer whose sole goal is to cut short her inquiry -- and her life. For Rachel, this assassin becomes her only link to a conspiracy that is much more deadly and far-reaching than she thought possible. It becomes clear to Rachel that she is marked by a man whose mysterious resources and top-secret information continually help him to thwart her.

From its harrowing first scene to its conclusion, Last Riches is a masterfully crafted thriller spinning around an unforgettable heroine. Philip Shelby once again demonstrates that he is among the great thriller writers in America today.