Lucky Bastard

Lucky O'Toole, the newly promoted vice president of Customer Relations for the Babylon, Las Vegas's primo Strip property, has never met a problem she couldn't handle. But when a young woman is found dead, sprawled across the hood of a new, bright red Ferrari California in the Babylon's on-site dealership, a Jimmy Choo stiletto stuck in her carotid, Lucky's skills are maxed out.

Of course, her life is already on overload. Her mother, Mona, is pregnant, hormonal, and bored-a triple threat. A song that Teddie, Lucky's former lover, wrote for her is getting national airplay as he hits the talk shows, pleading for her forgiveness. Lucky is less than amused by the high-powered "infotainment" spotlight on her personal life. She's having enough trouble fending off Chef Jean-Charles Bouclet, the Babylon's tasty new dish.

All of this and The Smack-Down Poker tournament, the second-largest poker tournament in the world, is holding its final round at the Babylon. Hookers, thieves, players, cheaters, media, and hangers-on descend, looking to win or to score. When one of the players turns up dead, Lucky starts to make connections between the two murders, putting her in the crosshairs of the killer.

Then, just when she's losing control... life deals another major complication to her personal life... and it's not going to be pretty.

In Deborah Coonts' Lucky Bastard, Lucky struggles to keep her life in balance, and a murderer from killing again.