You Can't Die But Once — Penny Mickelbury

 The Gianna Maglione/Mimi Patterson Mystery Series Continues.

Police Lieutenant Gianna Maglione, a newly-minted Captain, is still recovering from a life-threatening gunshot injury as she finds herself and her Hate Crimes Unit assigned a new boss, and a new squad called Special Intelligence Mobile and Tactical Unit, which includes hate crimes. And Gianna's colleagues in the group are diverse, quirky, loyal, and ready for teamwork. And Mimi Patterson, who quit her job as the lead investigative reporter for Washington DC's top newspaper, is coaxed back to work after having quit rather than apologize to a racist, sexist homophobe as ordered by her new editor. The editor is gone, and the newsroom welcomes Mimi back but she has one condition: she will write no more of her reputation-building stories about corrupt government officials and politicians, and instead, concentrate on stories that help people in the community.

With hatred a bigger business than ever, taking different and uglier forms, Mimi and Gianna feel hopelessness, knowing that women are always prey for bullies and haters. Young girls -- children, really -- make even easier targets. When the reporter and the Captain are tipped off about a depraved ring of men and women, buying and selling young girls for profit, Mimi writes the story, paving the way for Gianna and her team to try to take the ring down. And Mimi, her vow not to cover corruption scandals be damned, helps a colleague chase down a story which winds up intersecting with Gianna's efforts to take down the repulsive purveyors of child prostitution.

Out of this harrowing and unimaginable ugliness, the women view their jobs and relationship with new eyes, realizing they might, after all, be able to improve some horribly broken young lives, heal their own traumas and become better, stronger, more loving women to and for each other.