Bad Things Happen

A gripping novel about a man trying to escape his violent past and soon becomes a murder suspect when a publisher--and the husband of the woman he's having an affair with--turns up dead. The man who calls himself David Loogan is hoping to escape a violent past by living a quiet, anonymous life in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But when he's hired as an editor at a mystery magazine, he is drawn into an affair with the sleek blond wife of the publisher, Tom Kristoll--a man who soon turns up dead. Elizabeth Waishkey is the most talented detective in the Ann Arbor Police Department, but even she doesn't know if Loogan is a killer or an ally who might help her find the truth. As more deaths start mounting up--some of them echoing stories published in the magazine--it's up to Elizabeth to solve both the murders and the mystery of Loogan himself. "Witty, sophisticated, suspenseful and endless fun...the best first novel I've read this year." --Washington Post "A hypnotically readable novel, with...dialog worthy of Elmore Leonard."--Douglas Preston "Fans of Peter Abrahams and Scott Turow will find a lot to like."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)