Böcker av Ray Bates

As soon as he came through the door at Central, Detective Sergeant John Bowers noticed the white board and the younger detective scrawling another name in black marker."Who's Wendy Williams?"Mac Bando, junior detective on the robbery-homicide unit, looked over his shoulder at the burly senior pulling off his jacket. "Just this morning. Boyfriend called. She never showed up for their date last night. Didn't show for work this morning. So, Mom went over to her apartment, and manager let her in. He called 911 to report a 1054." Victim down call.He ran down the initial report that had come in from the field. Wendy was visible from the living room of the apartment when the manager opened the front door. He used his pass key, noting both the Schlage and the deadbolts were locked. The moment he stepped inside, he noticed the unpacked grocery bags on the table. With one glance straight ahead through the bedroom door, he saw her. Before he could speak, Mrs. Williams bumped against his back."Wendy! Honey, it's Mom! Are you okay, Sweetheart? Wendy?"She tried stepping around him, and he was able to block her just in time, pushing against him to clear her way to the bedroom."No, Ma'am. Don't go in there.""I want to see my daughter! Wendy?"He had to grab her shoulders and hold her back. He couldn't let her see what he saw. Even if he had to carry her back out to the landing. No way would he let this sight sear into her brain until the day she died. He thought of his own daughter Corell, and it sickened him."Ma'am, please! Please, step outside. I have to call the police. You don't want to see this."Mrs. Williams was sobbing now, knowing what he had seen, and she had only barely glimpsed. Enough to see her daughter's naked foot hanging over the edge of the comforter. "I want to see my daughter!""Please, Ma'am. Please, don't go in there."She raised her hands, made fists and beat on his chest, keening and going limp when he put his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Ma'am, but I think she's gone. Wait until the police and ambulance get here. You can't help her now."He called 911 on Wendy's land line. As soon as he hung up, he thought about leaving his prints. Too late to worry about that now.One last look, and he knew she was dead. Visions etched into his brain from Nam flashbacks-the dead-fish eyes, the pale pallor and mottled purple of blood pooling below midline. Only thing missing was the odor of putrid flesh and napalm."Please, Ma'am. Wait outside. They're on their way. Can I call somebody for you? Is your husband home?"Wendy's mother collapsed, sagged to the floor, on her knees, rocking back and forth. She didn't speak. What did it matter who came? What did anything matter now?

It's a good day to die for lawyers. A deposition is about to begin in a large, metro law firm where the senior partner is breathing his last before a shooter barges into the conference room and redecorates with blood and brains compliments of his Glock nine.The shooter seems like a nice guy. Admits everything, asks for his lawyer and the only question unanswered by the Central Precinct detectives is the motive. Lots of folks have grudges against lawyers, but this killer's reaction seems a bit extreme even for clients with a distaste for the legal system in general and insurance defense lawyers in particular.Detective Sergeant John Bowers and his interim partner Detective Max Bando need to start pulling threads at the scene of the crime and work backward to find answers. Preliminary investigation points to a related cold case involving the victim's ex-wife. Is the shooter on to something?And waiting in the wings is another Bowers ex laying landmines for John. His number-two wife Doris shows up for a repeat performance. Only this time she's mixed up with some genuine bad guys, Mexican drug bandidos, and she's eager to get John tangled up in her trouble. And meanwhile, John's regular partner Detective Minola Raye is on the sidelines birthing twins when an unexpected twist and look back stops the clock.

Detectives John Bowers and his partner Minola Raye catch a case that has them on the hunt for a serial rapist who has left two victims in the heart of the city, in the shade of the white-collar towers. Portland, the City of Roses, prides itself on a downtown which welcomes and succors the unfortunate, where every other corner has a Starbucks and the professionals hurry from cobbled streets to catch the trolley to green burbs. This is one new case that has the City fathers determined to put a suspect on the evening news sooner rather than later.John Bowers gets sidelined by a kid who almost puts the Detective in the morgue. While John's on the mend in ICU, his partner and the whole Central Precinct Homicide team is trying to find the main suspect who has disappeared. There's barely a trail to follow, but intuition and plain-dog police work close in just in time to promise the return of safe streets downtown.With John down a deep rabbit hole from the opiates they're shooting into him the hospital, he becomes another crime victim, but this time nobody's on the hunt for the perpetrator. This is one violation that won't end with City Serenade.

The fifth book in the Senior Detective John Bowers series lands us at the scene of a tragic carjacking to find a young mother shot dead in her parked car. Homicide cops in Central Precinct catch a case which looks like a carjacking. There's a young mother slumped behind the wheel with a bloody hole in her head. But without a weapon, no brass, no prints, it's not going to be an easy collar.But when the full forensics team shows up and examines the evidence, it turns out to be something it isn't supposed to be. This is a premeditated murder with the killer trying to throw the cops off the track. The homicide team has to follow the muddy tracks their killer left behind. But there isn't much to follow. Very little forensic evidence to work with means they have to hit the streets and look for answers the old fashioned way.Their first job is to convince the Central Precinct Commander that the murder is not a carjacking and is not even what it seems to be as a random crime. This is a capital murder for profit, and Bowers and Raye can make their case through strong, circumstantial arguments. But the Commander and the DA demand they come up with strong forensics to convince a jury to convict.In the middle of a frustrating investigation, a carjacking occurs across town with a dead attorney of note the victim. Now the detectives are called off their main case and tasked with solving the carjacking case. It takes a while before they can persuade their betters that the real carjacking has nothing to do with their main case.When they finally are able to cuff their prime suspect and put their case to rest, a blast from left field zaps them with harsh reality -- no case is ever closed with all the dots and crosses novels seal the deal with. Readers and cops alike never saw this one coming. It's a reminder that even good cops wear blinders once in a while.

A young girl alone on a dark city street, moments from the safety and security of her home, is caught in a terrifying trap. Roving predators change the course of her life, and everyone who cares for her, in a split second of evil.Now she's another victim, a temporary toy for a killer who's eluded police detection for so long, his nightmare of crime stays hidden within the city boundaries. Detective John Bowers and his partner Minola Raye know they have only hours to find the victim before time runs out.Like many homicides, this one is especially hard to take for even hardened detectives. The cruel barbarity of the crime, the youth and innocence of the victim and the frustration of chasing shadows wear John and Minnie down. But there is a break, and then once again they have to catch up to the sinful truth that there is no Hero or Heroine with so many bodies already buried.

The Camelot Club, third book in the Detective John Bowers series, catches John off guard. He's trying to escape the city noise and mayhem but kidnap and murder, plus an ex-wife who plays the grieving victim of a cruel crime, pull him back.His partner Minols Raye is still bent on keeping their sexual trysts alive, even while she wears the Assistant DA's engagement ring. John is torn between two women with opposites agenda for taming the Detective. As the case moves forward, John joins the investigative team and tries to follow the twisting trail of unlikely suspects. A young child falls off the roof of his house. Then disappears. Is it a kidnap? A homicide? Why can't the Police Bureau mount a full charge at the prime suspect? How can John try to save his ex-wife's business and reputation when she's drawn into the sordid details of the crime?John struggles to put it all together at the same time he's juggling his girlfriend Georgie and partner Minnie. How much of a good thing is too much? Can John sort it all out before time runs out? It's too close to call.