In the heartbreaking aftermath of her husband's death, Carole Ann, widely known as "the best damn trial lawyer in D.C.," left her criminal-law practice for what she hoped was a safer, saner life as a partner in her friend Jake's security firm. But when the richest man in Washington, D.C., hires her to find his daughter, she is caught up in a tangle of family relationships in which the stakes are not only money but life itself. Add to that a routine surveillance job that turns up three corpses and the kidnapping of her partner's beloved wife, Grace, and Carole Anne is -- once again -- in over her head in the kind of trouble that launches an all-out attack on her survival skills.

Showcasing her rare talent for mixing the subtlety and complexity of personal relationships with the excitement and suspense of a rapid-fire plot, Penny Mickelbury's third Carole Ann Gibson novel brings something altogether unique and refreshing to the mystery genre. Filled with an unforgettable cast of emotionally authentic characters as ethnically diverse as Washington, D.C., itself; pulse-pounding action; truly surprising twists of plot; and a delightfully clever ending, The Step Between is Mickelbury at her best.