City of Fear: A Rob Soliz and Frank Pierce Mystery

The fatal shooting of big-time Dallas gang leader and drug dealer Ricardo Salazar sparks a wave of retaliatory killings in Enmon’s entertaining sequel to 2018’s The Burial Place. Police detectives Rob Soliz and Frank Pierce, who were surveilling Salazar the night he died, have one suspect: a mysterious red-headed woman who entered the gangster’s home right before he was shot and left behind a voodoo doll before vanishing. Meanwhile, a New York crime family dispatches an assassin to eliminate those they consider responsible for Salazar’s death. As the bodies pile up, Soliz and Pierce are under the gun to solve the murder, find the hit-person, and put an end to the escalating violence. The pair are a tad cookie-cutter, despite contrasting lifestyles: Pierce is a master chef turned detective who dates high-end call girls, while Soliz is a devoted family man dealing with a depressive wife. More fun and realistic are the secondary characters, each of whom has an intriguing backstory that fits well within the intricate plot. Enmon, a veteran of the Houston PD, brings authenticity to this solid police procedural. Agent: David Haviland, Andrew Lownie Literary. (June)