Deadline for Murder by Val McDermid

From Booklist

In her third outing, lesbian ace reporter and amateur detective Lindsay Gordon returns from self-imposed European exile to Glasgow, Scotland, to find her estranged lover Cordelia, who–surprise!–has a new honey, the fetching Claire Ogilvie, whose ex-lover Jackie Mitchell is behind bars for murdering Alison Maxwell, who was another ex of Lindsay’s as well as of about half of Glasgow and the defensive line of the L.A. Raiders. Against her better judgment, intrepid Lindsay takes on the job of securing Jackie’s release, only to find herself caught up in a maze of lies, alibis with tricky time schemes, blackmail, prostitution, and more as she discovers a seemingly endless supply of suspects with ample motivation to kill the conniving Alison. McDermid’s depictions of Glasgow police procedures are a bit incredible, but strongly drawn characters and interesting use of U.K. slang keep the story moving smartly. Whitney Scott