SHUTTERBUG by Laurence Gough - BOOK - ADVANCE READING COPY

Vancouver's streets are awash with unusually pure heroin. Addicts are dying like flies, but in this port city at the far end of the continent, junkies are a dime a baker's dozen, so nobody cares. Several dealers join the parade of the newly dead. All of them worked for ancient crime kingpin Jake Cappalletti. The cops sniff a pattern. Jack Matisse Willows, finally divorced, is now free to marry fellow homicide detective Claire Parker. But sometimes freedom's just another word for plenty left to lose. Claire wants children. Jack already has two. As the homicide squad engages in an intensive hunt for the most prolific multiple murderer in the city's history, Willows mistakenly believes that he and Claire won't have time to spare for nagging domestic issues. The city's current bad-boy, Wayne, met April when she was lap-dancing. He swept her off her feet at the end of her shift, just as soon as he'd finished dumping her parasitic ex-boyfriend into the trunk of his Caddy. Part of Wayne's appeal is his raw ambition. He intends to replace Jake. April wants to be a contributing factor in her new boyfriend's climb to the top. When the killing stops, Wayne's going to need a fall guy, somebody to play multiple-murderer for a day. April kidnaps Lewis, a semi-successful con artist, and turns him into an involuntary heroin addict. Wayne's so busy killing people that he neglects April. Pretty soon, she starts to believe she might be falling in love with Lewis. But, as usual, she could be wrong.