I have always taken my title – Detective Lieutenant of the Los Angeles Police Department – seriously. So the possibility that I might lose it, along with my freedom, is troubling.

I am Det. Lt. K.C. Trench of the Los Angeles Police Department. My twenty-two years in the department have been scandal-free and my work has elevated me to the rank to which I had aspired from my first day in the department. But now I am facing charges, which I vehemently deny, that I shot and killed a fellow homicide detective. I assure you those charges are false, despite a great deal of circumstantial evidence that appears to indicate they are not. For example, it was my department-issued weapon used in the shooting. I can’t explain how that happened, and that is at least as troubling.

My focus has always been on facts. When I hear another detective say he or she is working on “a hunch” or “going with my gut” on a case, I cringe inwardly. The only thing that can close a case is evidence, and the evidence has to be factual. No judge will ever hear a case based on an officer’s “feeling.”

Unfortunately, as I am charged with the crime, I am unable to investigate this murder myself. This has led to no small amount of frustration. Just a few days ago I let my attorney, Sandra Moss, notice me raising an eyebrow at something she’d said. I need to keep a stronger hold on my outward emotions.

I hired Ms. Moss, with whom I have had some dealings in the past, because my standing in the department is not optimal at this moment so a lawyer employed by my labor union might not be the best choice. She knows me fairly well and will surely devote herself to defending me in court. But I would prefer to solve the murder and prosecute the actual killer. Alas, I am not at liberty to do so.

I suppose the best thing to do is cooperate as much as I can with Ms. Moss, her co-chair Jon Irvin and their paralegal assistant Emma Jacobson as they develop my defense. But there was one piece of evidence I wanted to discuss with Ms. Moss. I’m sorry to say that when I traveled to her office to mention it, the building was on fire.

Good Lieutenant, A Jersey Girl Legal Mystery Book 6
Genre: Legal Cozy Mystery
Release: December 2024
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

LA lawyer Sandy Moss comes to falsely accused lieutenant Trench’s aid in this final instalment of the critically acclaimed legal cozy mystery series.

While settling into her new home in Los Angeles together with her boyfriend and TV star Patrick McNabb, attorney Sandy Moss receives a phone call from the LA Men’s Detention Center. It’s a new client accused of murder: the near-stoic Lt. K.C. Trench!

Being good at his job but not well-liked in his department, Trench is accused of killing a fellow LA police officer whom he openly despised and threatened. With the odds against her, Sandy takes on the case of her sometime nemesis/sometime ally. She is certain that Trench can’t be the killer. It seems like someone is trying to pin the murder on him, but who and why? And what isn’t Trench telling her?

Sandy has a tricky case on her hands with all the evidence pointing at Trench as the murderer, but one thing is clear, she will help the stoic lieutenant, even if it puts her in unimaginable danger . . .

About the author
E.J. Copperman is the author of GOOD LIEUTENANT (where you can meet read about Lt. Trench), the sixth and, alas, final novel in the Jersey Girl Legal Mystery series, as well as the Fran and Ken Stein (read that again) Mystery series, with SWITCHEROO due in 2025. But don’t worry—next year Copperman will add another series to fill the time.