SUNSET EXPRESS by Robert Crais

SUNSET EXPRESS
By Robert Crais
Hyperion
ISBN: 0786860960
Hardback, 274 pages, $21.95
Genre: Mystery

Wealthy entrepreneur Teddy Martin is accused of murdering his estranged wife, but Martin’s defense attorney, Jonathan Green, is alleging the arresting officer, Angela Rossi, planted evidence against his client. Green hires private investigator Elvis Cole to check into Rossi’s background concerning another case in which she was accused of planting evidence, as well as the present one. Cole’s investigation clears Rossi, yet Green announces to the media that Cole has cleared his client of the wrongful death of his wife. This puts Cole on the defensive and he begins to look into the attorneys surrounding Martin and their suspicious undertakings, all under the guise of proving their client innocent.

The Elvis Cole books are good reading, some better than others. This is one of the more mundane of the series, with a mystery that’s pretty simple to resolve, amidst commentary on the LA police department and their efforts to get past unsavory events. Cole is involved with Louisiana attorney Lucy Chenier, who seems distant and less involved in the relationship than Cole. All in all, a good read.