Tampa Two (Burnside, Book 8) by David Chill

Release date: December 11, 2017
Subgenre: Hardboiled mystery, Noir

About Tampa Two

 

David Chill’s colorful and brilliant mystery captures both Raymond Chandler’s gritty vision and Robert B. Parker’s biting humor.

Tampa Two marks the return of Judy Atkin, the teenage runaway who P.I. Burnside arrested a decade earlier for prostitution. He made an enormous mistake by trying to help her, and wound up losing his job as an LAPD officer, along with his honor and reputation. Judy was the catalyst that led him down the path of becoming a Private Investigator, and all the good and bad that came with it.

But Judy is back in L.A. again, and is desperate for Burnside’s help. Her life is in danger, and she tries to persuade Burnside to accompany her into a dangerous situation. While Burnside isn’t fooled this time, she still manages to rope him in, and he quickly finds himself to be a person of interest in a grizzly Santa Monica homicide.

Tampa Two continues to showcase Burnside at his wise-cracking best, exchanging quips with an assortment of fascinating characters, no matter what side of the law they are on. This well-crafted novel is the embodiment of the classic Southern California noir mystery, set against a Los Angeles backdrop, a city that many think they know, but few really do. The story leads readers down a trail of theft, murder and deceit, with sharply honed banter and strikingly original characters. It is a tightly written story that is loaded with both suspense and humor, as well as some jaw-dropping surprises!

Excerpt:

 

TAMPA TWO




There are certain people who are always in trouble. And no matter how hard you try and avoid them, their troubles often extend to you.
When I first met Judy Atkin, she was very young and very pretty, but also noticeably frightened and damaged. As far as I could tell, almost ten years later, she was still frightened and damaged. But she was no longer so young and no longer so pretty. Her most striking feature continued to be that pair of big, blue eyes, although back then, they seemed to radiate innocence. Today they struck me as weathered and bloodshot, and her eye makeup was stained with tears.
“I am really, really sorry for what happened,” she said, as more pools of liquid formed in those expressive eyes. She wore a tight-fitting tank top and tight-fitting jeans. Both were blue and they accentuated her eyes.
“I’m sorry, too,” I said dryly.
Judy and I first became acquainted when I was working vice out of North Hollywood, and I arrested her for prostitution. There had been an uptick in streetwalkers along Lankershim Boulevard in Sun Valley, and the Chief of Police wanted to show a strong presence. It was a demonstration mostly designed to quiet community outrage, but it was largely whack-a-mole and would have no long-term impact. The hookers simply moved elsewhere to ply their trade, and they would ultimately return to Lankershim when the LAPD focused resources on a different problem.
My arrest of Judy was a run-of-the mill collar. She offered me sex for money, and in turn, I offered her a pair of handcuffs and a reading of her Miranda rights. That she was young and innocent was obvious. She didn’t even ask if I was a cop, one of the standard questions that working girls put to johns before steering the conversation toward fornication. I briefly considered letting her go with a warning, but knew that would not sit well with my partners.
As it turned out, Judy was a minor, just seventeen, a runaway from the Midwest. Hers was a sad tale that I saw repeated again and again. Girl is abused, girl leaves abusive situation, girl falls into a nightmarish trap that becomes worse than the one she left. In most instances, I simply processed them through the system. Judy was the one exception, and I made her the exception because we shared something in common, an unfortunate congruence in our backgrounds that elicited too much of my sympathy.
"I heard you got fired by the LAPD."
"Yes," I said. "A long time ago."
It was, in fact, eight years ago that Internal Affairs asked for my badge and gun, the final chapter of my checkered police career. Judy’s betrayal had been the tipping point, separating a by-the-book cop into an angry, rogue officer who meted out justice whenever he saw fit. The LAPD was like any other large organization; aberrant behavior was not tolerated. The police could not allow officers to continually go against policy. Judy’s actions ultimately led to my dismissal, her accusations against me triggering the chaos that forever changed my world. It was a world that would never change back.
"I made a very big mistake," she said, looking down at the floor.
"Yes."
She hesitated. "But I need your help. I've got a big problem.”
“Why me?” I asked. “And why now?”
“I don't have anywhere else to turn."



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About David Chill:

David Chill was born and raised in New York City. After receiving his undergraduate degree from SUNY-Oswego, he moved to Los Angeles where he earned a Masters degree from the University of Southern California. David Chill is the author of eight novels in the Burnside Mystery series: Post Pattern, Fade Route, Bubble Screen, Safety Valve, Corner Blitz, Nickel Package, Double Pass and the newly released, Tampa Two. Post Pattern was a finalist in the St. Martin's Press contest for new writers. The Burnside series has received much critical acclaim. David Chill presently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.


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