Dead Knock — K.A. Tracy

Sam Perry is a crime reporter whose knack for taking readers into the mind of killers has brought her professional success and accolades. But the obsession with homicides gives her editor an ulcer: Sam blurs the lines between reporting and sleuthing. In Dead Knock a brutal murder and a cryptic message left in blood becomes more than just another grim day at the office. On a night out with friends, Sam stumbles onto a second victim. Soon she uncovers a series of similar gruesome murders that must be the handiwork of the same killer. Something, some shared injustice in these victims' pasts, connects them all and calls a sick avenging angel to exact unholy retribution for their perceived sins. Sam senses it's someone she's interviewed, and to recognize who it is, she must confront her own darkness.

In between juggling a new romance with Ellen Konrad, a well-know actress and Palm Springs' new mayor-elect, and navigating resort town politics, Sam relies on modern digital research, old-fashioned doggedness, and the occasional guerrilla tactic to break her stories and track down a murderer.