Dead Ringer

It starts with a faulty outlet, a phone, and a spark of electricity—and ends with seven dead and one missing.

Detective Maxwell is called to unravel what appears to be an impossible murder. In all his years on the force, he’s never encountered a crime this brutal carried out in such a baffling manner. His only leads lie in the accounts of three shaken survivors: Meredith Eloise, a well-connected socialite and lobbyist; her unflinching butler, Richard Torres; and Alexander Florence, the lone guest left alive.

But looming over the case is the disappearance of Felix McCain—Meredith’s resentful, down-on-his-luck employee. Maxwell has until dawn to uncover the truth; failure means reporters will descend on the mansion, shattering Meredith’s reputation, which she guards more fiercely than her own life.

And just when the case seems unsolvable, a chilling detail emerges: a telephone no one at the gathering owned—perhaps left behind for its next recipient.