Penance

Holland Taylor is comfortable in interrogation rooms. For years the cold dark cells of the St. Paul Police Department homicide squad were his turf, and with the help of his partner he wrung confessions out of countless killers. But that was long ago. Tonight Taylor is on the other side of the desk. Tonight he is the suspect.

Taylor's career in the department ended after his wife and daughter were killed in a drunk driving accident. The culprit, John Brown, was sentenced to a measly six years for vehicular manslaughter, and Taylor vowed bloody vengeance in front of open court. After a few months of freedom, Brown is shot dead, and Taylor, now a private investigator, is called in as the obvious suspect.

The death turns out to be linked to Taylor's current case, involving state representative and gubernatorial candidate Carol Catherine Monroe, who is being blackmailed by an old boyfriend. He didn't kill John Brown, but he will find out who did even if it means tearing the Twin Cities apart from the inside out.