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Murphy sends Lilah to the Haet a read on the situation But as she lands, she’s called to another crime scene: a murder identical to the two in LA and the one in New York From the looks of all the murders, everyone assumes the perp is a serial killer, but Lilah is convinced they’re dealing with an assassin, so off one by one on orders fro the shots is a ure out

The case in the Hamptons has her back in the web of her ex-boyfriend, Kane Mendez, in two seconds flat It’s his rental property the body was found at and his eood for Kane, but Lilah knows hi the local cartel that his father once ran prior to his death, she knows this isn’t Kane’s doing Of course, that doesn’t stop Kane froet her back in his bed, which fails to workthis tiht she was attacked, and too much of a risk to her reputation

As Lilah deals with the locals on the Hamptons case, she runs into Beth Smith, now the medical examiner and who she once knew in school, and Eddie Rivera, a s to steal her father’s affection and attention growing up

Lilah is still going through the scenarios of the murders as she pulls up to her beach house, where she was attacked on that night two years ago And of course, being Lilah, she decides to face those oes out to the beach where the attack took place, reliving those horrific ains her composure froet to work on the cases, there’s afor her in fake blood on the side of the house:

A is for the Apple a day that keeps the doctor away But a doctor couldn’t help him, could he?

I KNOW

The author of this ins to think of as “Junior,” and the e is the first of what she calls “murder notes” So now Lilah has two mysteries to solve: Who is the assassin, and who else was there the night of her attack who knows her and Kane’s secret? Lilah sets up shop in Purgatory—the naanizes her cases and does her best work—and then makes lists on top of lists of who could be responsible for any and all of this She reminds herself of the nickname people have for her: Murder Girl It describes how she’s so good at what she’s done to solve cases: she can be more in tune with a dead body than a live one She lives and breathes ets inside the perp’s head

While she’s in Purgatory, Rich and Kane both call, Rich wanting to be the one Lilah depends on, which doesn’t work for her right then and there, and Kane trying to get under Lilah’s skin, where he’s always been, and also to give her his solid alibi: he ith his friends-with-benefits buddy, Sa they were an FWB pair prior to Lilah and Kane being together years ago Kane signs off with a reminder that he knows Lilah’s demons and he can help ease them if she’ll let him Which, of course, she won’t

Following that little chat, none other than the East Hampton chief of police shows up at Lilah’s door, her brother, Andrew They banter back and forth about jurisdiction, their father, who Andrew even calls so he can talk to Lilah, and an upco press conference on theLilah that he’s in a relationship with Sa who just happens to be Kane’s alibi for the time of the murder

Once Lilah is alone again and back at her drawing boards, she can’t shake one thought: she’s the common denominator in all of this The murders The notes The tattoos Samantha and her brother and Kane New York and California But there could be a multitude of connections that just haven’t been realized yet And with that conclusion, Lilah is s and people she needs to look into This effort fades into a nightht: her and Kane bloodied, her sans clothing, and an eerie feeling to the memory that is still not fully realized

Lilah sends a set of fingerprints frouy back in California, in hopes that the prints will match someone out of the ordinary In the rills hiht, and about Sa for New York governor, and that Andrew and Samantha aren’t necessarily as squeaky-clean as they’d like everyone to believe they are And that, along with his bid for governor, her father has gotten wrapped up in favors owed to a rival of the Mendez fae over the things Kane is keeping from her, she finds another note on her car:

T is for TRUST

You TRUSTED him

F is for FOOL

That’s YOU

Lilah then heads off to question Sa but more questions and the refusal by Samantha to back up Kane’s alibi

Lilah needs answers, so she contacts Beth, the medical examiner, and asks to meet her at the local diner Before Beth arrives, Lilah runs into her ex–best friend, Alexandra, who is the assistant district attorney and married to Eddie Rivera, now a detective, who has always coeneral asshole Alexandra’s presence throws Lilah back into a flashback of that night; Alexandra ith her at a bar prior to her attack They’d seen the h they were celebrating Lilah’s birthday, Lilah convinced Alexandra to go talk with hi after hi with Kane, as in New York but getting on a chopper to coot up to leave the bar, it becaed somehow But by who? As Lilah coht, Lilah cut Alexandra out of her life for good—thus the ex–best friend title

Alexandra now spots Lilah in the diner, and they have an almost inane conversation about the potential reasons Lilah may be in town; she sticks with “it’s personal” and other cursory shoptalk As Alexandra leaves to take a phone call, Beth arrives, and Lilah digs in deep about the current et any further, Eddie shows up and intervenes, de he has a suspect: Kevin Woods, who seems to have had a violent history with the victi, she confides to Lilah that Kevin Woods shouldn’t take the hit for this murder She knows he’s not a killer

Lilah asks Tic Tac for background on Woods The locals are just trying to get him for their one case and not the rest of theLilah suspicious of their motives Eddie seeet involved And Kane is very adamant that Lilah leave the tattoo connection alone So who’s playing who?

Lilah calls up Lucas Davenport, her “cousin” (really, her step cousin—his father was her father’s stepbrother, but Lucas is faet him to help her hook up a security-caain or leaves her another note, she’ll have it on tape There’s a brief mention of her mother’s death: she ith Lucas’s father in the plane that went down No one knohy they were together or what ht