The Blue Hour

T. Jefferson Parker

Sep 2012 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

An aging detective hunts a serial killer, finding love along the way
After three decades in homicide, Tim Hess hangs up his gun. But retirement doesn’t sit well with the veteran detective, and a string of grisly murders in Southern California calls him back to the job. The papers are calling the killer “The Purse Snatcher,” because of his affinity for kidnapping women with designer bags, but the playful nickname doesn’t reflect the horror of the crime scenes he leaves behind. He dumps their shredded purses in the woods, surrounded by blood-soaked dirt and a few scraps of flesh. The victims’ fates remain gruesome yet unknown.  Hess’s partner is Merci Rayborn, a second-generation cop whose intense ambition has won her no friends in the department. As they chase the madman who is terrorizing the Californian suburbs, Hess finds himself falling in love. But before he can pursue his new feelings, there is a killer to be caught, and a partner to protect from the line of fire.

About the author

T. Jefferson Parker (b. 1953) is a bestselling author of thrillers. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in Orange County, and attended college at nearby University of California, Irvine. After graduation, he took a job as a cub reporter at the Newport Ensign, and spent several years as a journalist before writing his first novel, the bestselling Laguna Heat (1985). A torrid story of corruption and murder by the California coast, it was made into an HBO original movie of the same name. He continued writing thrillers through the 1990s, including The Triggerman’s Dance (1996) and Where Serpents Lie (1998), before introducing ambitious Orange County detective Merci Rayborn in The Blue Hour (1999). Parker concluded Rayborn’s three novel series with Black Water (2002). Recently, he has written a series of novels starring Charlie Hood, a sheriff’s deputy working on the Mexican border. He continues to live and write in Southern California.