Political Suicide — Alan Russell

Will Travis, an investigator who specializes in small-time jobs like looking into employee theft at hotels and bars, falls into a much bigger case when he unwittingly foils a murder attempt on a politician's daughter. Sitting in a hotel bar he sees a man drop something into a woman's drink, then watches as she begins to lose consciousness. Unable to sit by and watch her in peril, he comes to her rescue only to nearly get killed himself by a hitman out to get her.

The woman, Claire Harrington, tells a farfetched but believable story, given what they've just escaped: She's in danger because she believes her father's death--ruled a suicide by the police--was actually murder. What's more, she believes that one of the candidates in the upcoming presidential election was behind it.

Will gets drawn further and further into this dangerous situation, caught between wanting to go to the authorities, whom Claire doesn't trust, and wanting to help her himself. When events begin to spiral out of control, he knows there's no way out until they find the truth, wherever it takes them. Political Suicide is another gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller from Alan Russell, one of the most ingenious suspense writers working today.