The Pengwu Dragonhead

In Los Angeles for an International police convention, Scobie Tierney meets Detective Gloria Ballantyne from the Hollywood division. For the very first time in his life, he is truly smitten and falls deeply in love with the vivacious policewoman. When she is gunned down in the middle of a shootout between the local mafia alliance and a Chinese triad and left in a coma, Scobie is heartbroken. Taking leave of absence from his station back in Ireland, he resolves to stay in Los Angeles until he has tracked down those responsible and brought them to justice. With little help from the local police departments who view him as an interfering nuisance, Scobie must call on all his guile and wit as he tries to probe the labyrinthine underbelly of organised crime in one of America's largest cities. Also by J P Burke: The Schiapello Cross Excalibur's Run