It's not often that a book in the series so totally cleans the slate of its world. This one sorta does. There's still Toni, but she's no longer a cop, and it doesn't take place in California, but in Las Vegas. Toni gets a sort of summons via letter from her estranged aunt. She goes to Las Vegas and she gets sucked into the most sinful parts of the sin city because those parts seem to hover and whirl around her Aunt Vera.

Just like in the first book, there's weird syntax and the flow of the dialogue seems very, very off sometimes, and forced at other times. Plus, the characters, a lot of the time, just seem like idiots. So, Royce says he has a plan to get out of the casino/hotel unnoticed, but then minutes later the two women, Sally and Toni freak out like little girls when he appears. Oy. Give me a break.

There's also a romantic plot that although it was in no way original, didn't take over the story and drown out the mystery, so that's a positive. Unfortunately it's also sort of a relationship cliffhanger, and I have yet to get my hands on a copy of the third book in the series. ( )