Book ~ "A Bullet for Carlos" (2012) Giacomo Giammatteo

From Goodreads ~ Detective Connie Gianelli's life has been torn apart several times. First when her mother died and then years later when she found out her Uncle Dominic was in the mob. Her life is about to be shredded again, and this time it could destroy her.

Connie’s love of family and her badge are both threatened when an undercover drug bust leaves two cops dead and the drugs missing. Internal Affairs is looking for any excuse to take her badge, but she’s not worried about them finding the missing drugs—her secrets could prove to be far worse.

Now Connie’s racing against the clock to figure out who killed her partners and took the drugs—dirty cops or Uncle Dominic’s friends. And she has to do it before IA pins the whole damn thing on her.

Thirty years ago, after killing someone, mobsters Dominic and Zeppe discover a baby in the apartment of the deceased.  They can't leave her behind so they give her to the love of Dominic's life, Maria, who raises the baby as her own.  Maria, though, doesn't approve of what Dominic does for a living so never lets their relationship progress passed friendship.  Thirty years later, we discover that the baby has become Connie Gianelli, an undercover cop.

After a drug bust goes bad, Connie's two partners get killed, the drugs disappear, Connie is shot in the leg and she is suspected of being a dirty cop.  Rather than taking the early retirement she is offered, she is transferred to another precinct where she starts investigating a cold case, the murder of a woman who was beaten and had her lips cut off.  This leads her to Houston as they also had victims with the same MO.  She uses these murders as an excuse to go to Houston to investigate her own case since it has ties to there.

Frankie Donovan, who we met in Murder Takes Time (which I enjoyed), is back ... he and his partner are investigating Connie's case in New York to discover whether she is a dirty cop or not.  Connie doesn't trust a lot of people but Uncle Dominic vouches for Frankie, who is a good cop.

Like Murder Takes Time, I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the writing style and it kept me wanting to read more.  I liked the characters.  Despite her toughness, I liked Connie ... she's torn between being a good cop while being true to her mobster family. Tip, Connie's partner in Houston, is a hoot ... he likes to look at women's butts and he's not afraid to comment on them, which gets him in trouble.  Plus, he's a dog lover ... he has three of them.

I'd recommend this book and I look forward to the next one in the series.