by Claire A Murray

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

Disgraced ex-LAPD detective Beth McDade is self-exiled to the Barstow Sheriff’s station because it is the only one in California that would hire her. She needs to serve in California, another bit of self-exile, to honor her father’s many years of service to the LAPD. But this desert location is so off the beaten path, except as a route on the freeway between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and two military bases, that there’s not much challenge for a homicide detective. McDade has to settle for solving burglaries and similar crimes.

Barstow offers McDade little chance of redemption since she has two other problems: drinking and sex, both of which she enjoys with abandon. Sex with a junior officer is what led to her fall from grace. But there are plenty of firefighters, EMTs, and cops from the police department or California Highway Patrol, who understand her thirst to forget, immerse in the physical, and connect with others who cannot unsee or unhear the tragedies of their job. No strings.

What begins as a hard-edged police story quickly turns into something else. A lightning strike distracts the driver of a motor home who doesn’t see a man running out of the desert and across the freeway. “DRT. Dead Right There.”

Calico is part contemporary police story, part science fiction, and part old-time western. Goldberg braids two complete stories from two time periods into a mystery McDade, with help from coroner Selby, must solve.

If you’re looking for an exciting mystery within a mystery, flawed characters who work toward redemption, and a few unexpected twists, you should read Calico.

To enter to win a copy of Calico, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “calico” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen on January 13, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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You can also click here to purchase this book.

Claire A Murray writes crime, mystery, fantasy, and sci-fi short stories and novels. She also writes reviews, hosts Zoom write-ins for aspiring and experienced authors, and is completing a suspense fantasy novel so she can return to her trilogy and two other novels awaiting revision. Play the Hand You’re Dealt is her crime and mystery short story collection. Find her at cam-writes.com.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.