A brutal heatwave has the city on edge. Tempers are fraying, the streets are restless, and the police are stretched to breaking point. It's the worst possible time for Detective Erin Loxleyne to stumble onto something that powerful people need to stay buried.

The first death looks like misfortune. A senior public official, found at his desk, no sign of foul play. The second looks like coincidence. A CPS lawyer, collapsed at home, nothing out of place. But Loxleyne has spent her career learning to read what's missing from a scene and both scenes are missing too much.

As she traces the connection between the victims, she finds herself pulled back to a case from her past: an investigation that was shut down without explanation, sealed without closure, and protected by people with the authority to make questions disappear. It nearly ended her career once. Now it may do far worse.

With institutional pressure mounting, warnings arriving from unexpected places, and the killer moving with the confidence of someone who knows exactly how the system works, Loxleyne finds herself fighting on two fronts, the investigation in front of her, and the one buried beneath it.

Dead Heat is a taut, atmospheric thriller that announces Detective Erin Loxleyne as a heroine built for the long game, sharp, stubborn, and impossible to stop.