Dangerous Passage

Harris, whose Blood Covenant won Romantic Times’ Best Inspirational Suspense Honor in 2011, opens her new Southern Crimes series with a novel that exposes the darkness of human trafficking. Det. Avery North discovers a serial killer at work in Atlanta when she’s called to the scene of a murder—a young Asian woman with a magnolia tattoo on her right shoulder, the second victim with that tattoo. As she follows the clues, Avery must also figure out her heart when it comes to dashing assistant medical examiner Jackson Bryant. Between Jackson; Avery’s tween daughter; her needy family; her own heart, slowly healing after her husband’s death three years earlier; and now a challenging murder case, this tough detective has her hands full. When another Asian woman goes missing, Avery and Jackson must discover the killer before he strikes again. But will love strike again for this wounded pair? Readers looking for a strong female protagonist and a unique murder mystery will find much to admire in Harris’s work. Agent: Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary Agency. (Sept.)