Oxygen Burning — Jerusha Jones

Summer, and the Willamette River is a busy place. Eva Fairchild should know…since the wakes of all those passing bulk freighters (not to mention the splashy aftereffects of the daredevil personal-watercraft aficionados and hobbyist fishermen and wide-bottomed weekend yachters) set her floating house to sloshing.

But when an explosion rocks the night, it's more than turbulent water that comes Eva's way -- because there's a body in the rubble.

What's the price of greed and truth, particularly when they're at cross purposes? Eva is about to find out, when she's called on to provide public relations support for the brave new investigative journalism venture formed by a few of her intrepid friends. Her sweetie, Detective Vaughn Malloy, isn't exactly thrilled by the proximity to danger her involvement necessitates, but he can't complain because he's also supplying a favor of his own for his law-enforcement cronies in the much bigger Portland Police Bureau. Because he has a stealthy and in-demand expertise he hasn't told Eva about -- yet.

Big money equals big politics, big egos, and big explosions. Not necessarily in that order.