The De La Cruz Case Files: Book 4
Publication Date: February 19, 2024
The nightmare is over. Alexander “Rotten” Carter is dead. But when his body is dumped in Cleveland Homicide Detective Jesus De La Cruz’s neighborhood, there are more questions than answers. Rotten was dressed up like the king of hearts, right down to the dagger in the suicide king’s temple. The elaborate staging is perplexing at the same time seems to be sending a message.
As Cruz investigates, he discovers Rotten Carter was more complex than the simple villain he had painted him to be. So is his murder, which is related to the deaths of his two lieutenants months prior. Both were strangled and found, with playing cards in their mouths. Jacks.
As the body count climbs, connection tie back to a dead CI and an accident that made a cop a widower. A web becomes apparent with one man in the middle: Narcotics Detective Matt Yablonski. But is he the spider or another fly?
Cleveland Homicide Detective Jesus De La Cruz knows someone is trying to send a message by leaving a dead body in his neighborhood, but he is stumped by the playing card reference.
Author TG Wolff delivers the fourth installment of the De La Cruz Case Files series with Playing Dead. Alexander “Rotten” Carter was already on the police radar because of his alleged involvement in a vehicle accident that killed a police officer’s wife and severely injured De La Cruz’s girlfriend.
Finding Carter dead in a King of Heart costume leads to a larger investigation that reveals two other playing card deaths. The intensity increases as the focus seems to point back to the overdose death of Carter’s sister, a confidential informant.
Did a narcotics detective seek revenge for his wife’s death, or is there a more sinister plot? The author maintains a great balance between De La Cruz’s personal and professional lives, allowing readers to become invested in him as a character.
Playing Dead provides a top-notch crime thriller at the hands of a skilled investigator determined to find answers.
TG Wolff writes thrillers and mysteries that play within the gray area between good and bad, right and wrong. Cause and effect drive the stories, drawing from 20+ years’ experience in Civil Engineering, where “cause” is more often a symptom of a bigger, more challenging problem. Diverse characters mirror the complexities of real life and real people, balanced with a healthy dose of entertainment. TG Wolff holds a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.
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“The author maintains a great balance between De La Cruz’s personal and professional lives, allowing readers to become invested in him as a character.”
~ Yes, I agree! I loved that.
Nice review, thanks!
Thank you for reading, Amy. And I am thrilled that Cruz and his most recent case entertained you. May every read be a page turner! TG