The Prostitutes' Ball (Shane Scully Novels) - Hardcover

Cannell, Stephen J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312557302 ISBN 13: 9780312557300

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2010

Synopsis

Detective Shane Scully responds to a call in the Hollywood hills at a once-immaculate mansion, the scene of an infamous murder twenty-five years prior. He discovers the remnants of a lavish pool party. The revelers have fled, leaving three dead bodies in their wake, all shot with the same gun. One is an acclaimed film producer. The other two, a pair of gorgeous women.

With his new partner, Sumner “Hitch” Hitchens, Scully begins to investigate what looks to be an open-and-shut case: The women were hired prostitutes, and there’s security video of an angry husband firing on all three. A simple case of brutal revenge. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems: There’s a single spent bullet casing that doesn’t match the rest.  From that single bullet emerges a story of love, murder, suicide, and one of the biggest financial frauds in L.A. history. Someone has gone to great lengths to cover up a decades-old crime, and as Scully and Hitch get closer to the answer, they find themselves in a killer’s crosshairs.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen J. Cannell (1941-2010) was the author of the bestselling Shane Scully books, including The Pallbearers and Three Shirt Deal. He was also an Emmy Award winning television writer and producer, and in his thirty-five-year-career, he created or co-created more than forty TV series. Among his hits were The Rockford Files, Silk Stalkings, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, Hunter, Renegade, Wiseguy, and The Commish. He received numerous awards, including the Saturn Award - Life Career Award (2004), The Marlow Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Writers of America (2005), and the WGA Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement (2006). Having overcome severe dyslexia, Cannell was an avid spokesperson on the condition and an advocate for children and adults with learning disabilities.  He was a third-generation Californian and resided in the Pasadena area with his wife, Marcia, and their children.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

This is a story about a story.

It’s also a story which, despite all my efforts to the contrary, seemed destined to become a major motion picture.

It began a few days before Christmas, but it’s not a Christmas story. It’s about lost generations and emotional desertion, and about a Los Angeles family with way too much money. So I guess at its heart, it’s a story about greed, corruption, and loss.

With those themes, what better place to start than at an office Christmas party? But before we begin, just a few preliminary remarks.

I’m a homicide detective, and as such, I’m carefully schooled in the three concepts mentioned above. I work at an elite LAPD detective division known as Homicide Special. Our unit was reconstituted after the O.J. Simpson case, another L.A. story of greed, corruption, and loss.

After losing that high-profile media trial, it occurred to our command floor managers that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have homicide detectives carrying blood evidence vials around a crime scene where they could later be accused of planting it.

As a result, Homicide Special was completely reorganized and staffed with our most seasoned detectives. I’m lucky to be assigned there. It’s a great gig.

My name is Shane Scully, and for this story I will be your host narrator. It’s going to be a fast ride through L.A. with a lot of reckless driving. Look out for abrupt lane changes, freeway shootings, and dangerous hairpin turns. As a police officer, I’m required to advise you to fasten your seat belts.

All set? Then let’s go. . . . Cue the opening theme music. Fade slowly up from black, and we’ll begin at:

 

THE PROSTITUTES’ BALL. Copyright © 2010 by Stephen J. Cannell. All rights reserved.  For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0312557302
• ISBN 13: 9780312557300
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320