Karen Kijewski: Kat Scratch Fever

From the Publisher:
Kat Colorado, "one of the toughest and toughest-talking of the new breed of female investigators"(Los Angeles Times), investigates a suicide and discovers a trail of blackmail, betrayal, and blood that ends on her doorstep.

When prominent Sacramento attorney James Randolph suddenly commits suicide while under surveillance by Kat, she is stunned by the shocking images that confront her. But Randolph, the victim of a vicious blackmailer, is just the tip of a very dangerous iceberg, and his death has far-reaching consequences in the community. Reporter J.O. Edwards is also intrigued by the suicide; an article he writes sets off a chain reaction, which encourages another of the blackmailer's victims to come forward.

By chasing leads, finessing her contracts, and twisting a few arms, Kat - with J.O. on her heels - identifies a pattern, a web of deceit of frightening proportions. As Kat comes closer to her quarry, the blackmailer turns up the heat, resorting to brutal physical violence, threatening Kat, her friends, her family, and everything she holds dear.

Karen Kijewski: Kat Scratch Fever. Berkley Publishing Group, ISBN: 0425163393 (May, 1998), 288 p., $6.99