Close case : a Samantha Kincaid mystery
(Book)

Samantha Kincaid, a Deputy District Attorney in Portland, Oregon, catches a high profile case on the morning of her 32nd birthday, the murder of hot-shot reporter Percy Crenshaw, who was bludgeoned to death during the night in his carport. The apparent solution of the case comes quickly: circumstantial evidence puts two drugged-up teenagers at the scene of the crime. When one of them confesses to the murder, the case seems open and shut. But unfortunately for the D.A.'s office, the methods that were used to extract the suspect's confession may not stand up to scrutiny. And unfortunately for Kincaid, the hot-headed officer whom she must confront over his interrogation techniques is her live-in boyfriend's partner on the force. With Samantha's relationships with the police department and her own personal liaison with it souring over the Crenshaw case, she is put in the even less enviable position of shepherding the racially-charged case of an officer-involved shooting through a grand jury hearing. Sam's relationship with her policeman boyfriend may not survive these twin, work-related assaults