Brief

A murder in San Francisco brings three life-long friends into a fierce conflict as each person tries to protect his family's reputation and his own achievements. Nine people tell the story from their points of view. One is the killer.

What We Liked

This was an interesting take on the detective novel in that it told the story from multiple points of view, including suspects, in a way that made it seem like any one of them could be the murderer.

Film: As a film, this would be a classic whodunit mystery blockbuster.

TV: As a television show, this could be an interesting miniseries with each episode revolving around one character's perception of events

Key points: Mystery; Ensemble leads; Plot twist; Dramatic; Family values

Synopsis

It's the 4th of July in San Francisco, and everyone is celebrating. Inspector Larry Leahy is called to investigate the hotel by the owner, James O'Hara, an old friend of Larry's--one of the former employees, Gerald Smith, was fired and showed up anyways. He removes him with the help of a hotel security guard. Pepper, the front desk girl at the hotel, takes dinner upstairs to Cornelius Mackenzie, a mentally challenged bellhop at the hotel who she is in love with. She professes her love to him, but he's scared and doesn't know what to say. A big party is happening downstairs that everyone attends. Pepper gets an email from Cornelius saying he needs $50,000 to pay off a gambling debt. Pepper, wanting to win Cornelius's heart, steals the money from the front desk vault and delivers it to Cornelius's room. Later, Father Ralph, Cornelius's brother and another friend of O'Hara and Leahy, goes to check on his brother and finds him dead alongside a gun.

The police chief puts Inspector Joe Varton on the case, and Leahy is mad that he wasn't put on the case because of his personal relationship with the victim, and gets put on the case as the second lead. They interrogate Pepper, and once she confesses to stealing the $50,000 and James overhears, he fires her. They then interrogate James, who gives Leahy tickets for a trip to Ireland but claims it's not a bribe. James hires Pepper back. James is cheating on his wife with a widower named Maureen; Leahy goes to her house to interview her without letting Varton know. Larry asks her about the gun and if she knows anything--she says she doesn't have a gun, but later reveals that she has been hiding a gun for James. She asks James to take the gun back, but he pressures her into keeping it. The police chief wants to take Larry off the case for his conduct, but he threatens to retire, so he gets to stay on as second.

James purchases land for $50,000 and suspicion gets placed on him, especially once he reveals that he sent Pepper the email from Cornelius's account. Larry thinks that the murderer is Pablo, as his girlfriend, Larissa, was missing a fingernail similar to the one found at the scene, but then Pablo jumps off a bridge, killing himself. Larry arrests O'Hara, but still isn't sure how he could have committed the murder. Larry realizes the fingernail was Pepper's and arrests her. She confesses, and reveals that O'Hara hired Pablo to kill Cornelius but he didn't, and Pepper killed him when the gun went off by mistake.

About The Author

Robert E Dunn served as a patrol officer for eight years at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and conducted hundreds of investigations, both criminal and non-criminal. He worked with cops, firefighters, and paramedics, and his former supervisor works with cops who get into trouble.