LIVE BAIT

The canal town of Castlemere is the kind of hard-luck place that provides constant challenge to its crack team of detectives. But the skills of Superintendent Frank Shapiro, Inspector Liz Graham and the volatile Sergeant Cal Donovan are put to the test in very personal ways.

A string of violent crime—train robberies, a dog-fighting ring and a rapist stalking the area—forces both Graham and Donovan to go undercover. The rapist is attacking blond, fortyish, successful women. Liz fits the profile and acts as a decoy, unprepared for the shattering repercussions in the department, her marriage and herself. As Donovan joins the vicious ranks of the pit bull circles, both cases take shocking and deadly turns....

"Bannister depicts her force coping with several major crimes at once. She does so brilliantly."—Publishers Weekly

"This is more than genre fiction, it's art."—Mystery News