From Goodreads: A beautiful woman is murdered in a small town in Virginia and Homicide Lieutenant Hank Donaghue is the prime suspect!

Donaghue is on vacation when he stops overnight in Harmony, a quiet little town where very little happens. Until, that is, the police kick down the door of his motel room in the middle of the night and drag him off to jail on suspicion of having strangled a woman behind a bar. Although he insists he’s a cop himself and had nothing to do with it, the local chief of police won’t listen. An eyewitness claims he saw Donaghue go behind the bar where the murder took place – and the victim was Chief Askew’s wife!

Stuck in a cell in a small town, surrounded by cops who are convinced he’s a murderer, Donaghue must find a way to free himself and find Marcie Askew’s killer before it’s too late. When he’s finally allowed to make a phone call he dials the number of the one person he knows can help him out of this mess – Detective Karen Stainer.

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Donaghue and Stainer are back in McCann’s latest crime novel, expertly unraveling the mystery surrounding Marcie Askew’s murder, the police chief’s wife.  A woman with many secrets, Donaghue and Stainer have their work cut out for them as the scour the town for answers, interview reluctant witnesses, and dealing with a small town police division set in their ways. 

I really enjoyed watching this novel unfold, especially as Donaghue and Stainer are the perfect team and their witty remarks make for a very fun read.  There is an art to writing crime novels, and McCann has perfected it, giving the reader just enough insight to allow him/her to make educated conclusions about the murder, only to throw new information into the mix, changing the pathway of the novel completely. 

Donaghue and Stainer are also fleshed out more in this second novel of the series, giving the reader more background information, especially about Stainer and her love for guns.  While there is a little more technical talk about guns and police business than I am interested in, it is blatantly obvious that McCann knows his material and has really done his research, adding validity to his story, and his characters, as the novel unfolds. I definitely recommend this novel.  Four stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.