Shallow Graves — Jeremiah Healy

Boston PI John Cuddy doesn't know that he'll be working under the eagle eye of mob boss Tommy ''the Temper'' Danucci when he agrees to look into the death of fashion model Mau Tim Dani for his former employer, Empire Insurance. He learns soon enough that Mau Tim was Danucci's granddaughter and that the mob family remains as puzzled about her death as the police and the insurance company that carried a large policy on her life for the modeling agency. The young woman was strangled in her apartment, which was owned and run by the family; the only other tenant in the building was another model. With only Mau Tim's missing iolite necklace to work from, Cuddy methodically interviews each of her relatives, co-workers and lovers, gradually building a picture of the girl and ultimately determining who killed her. As in past books, Healy gives his readers an array of distinctive characters while engaging them in a deftly plotted and satisfying story.