book cover of The Desert Saint
 

The Desert Saint

(2023)
(The first book in the Maria Varela Mystery series)
A novel by

 
 
"Noirish, hard-edged, and memorable Las Vegas procedural." -Booklife.com
"An emotionally charged, brilliantly-written debut crime thriller." - BestThrillers.com


Complex characters. Shocking twists. A debut crime thriller readers can't put down.


When Maria Varela first made detective, more than a few cops called her a nepo-baby behind her back. Sure, having a legendary detective for a father hadn’t hurt her career, but he was retired, and the one closing cases was her, not him. Eventually all the arrests silenced even the loudest of the doubters.

Then a long dormant serial killer murders her brother.

Last seen in 1983, the Desert Saint killed five people. All shot twice in the head with the same gun. All with a token placed on the left hand. The best efforts of law enforcement to solve the murders had failed, and when the killings stopped, Las Vegas moved on. Now, only retired cops and the family members of the victims even remember who the Desert Saint was.

So why return now? And why kill her brother?

Capturing a killer no one else could is a hard enough task.

Figuring out why the Desert Saint came for her brother might tear Maria's life apart.

Some crimes are best left unsolved.

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★★★★★ “As much of a page-turner as anything I've read in recent memory. I raced through this book in two days."
★★★★★ “Non-stop action, tight pacing, and great characters."
★★★★★ "First surprise from this genre in a long time"


Genre: Mystery

Used availability for A M Pascarella's The Desert Saint


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