Duality

Weeks after his welcome reconciliation with his best friend, Windeport Police Chief Sean Colbeth is firmly mired in the doldrums of a brutal Coastal Maine winter that just won't quit. With snowbanks outside his office window high enough to block out what little sun they are getting - not to mention the minutiae of administering his department similarly piling up - Sean is more than looking forward to breaking the seemingly endless monotony of the season. His long-planned vacation to attend a comic book convention in Anaheim with his main squeeze is literally just what the doctor ordered, enough of a lifeline to pull him through to their departure from the Portland International Jetport.

At least, that's until an unexpected call from Vasily Korsokovach has Sean setting aside his budget spreadsheets, for the Deputy Chief at the Rancho Linda Police Department has a problem: after spending the weekend skiing in Windeport, Don Davies failed to appear for a planned family visit in California. As the family of the nationally syndicated radio program host is understandably worried - and hoping it's nothing more than a case of crossed communications between father and daughter - Vasily asks his old friend to do a quick wellness check to give the family some peace of mind.

Intent on providing that solace, Sean instead uncovers a deadly mystery with roots in Southern California - one based on a secret Davies managed to keep hidden from everyone, despite a multiple-decade career in an industry where skeletons are rarely kept in the closet. Sean pulls what threads he can in Maine, but ultimately finds himself packing his bags for the West Coast a few weeks earlier than expected. For the land of palm trees and wide sandy beaches seems to hold the key to understanding why someone felt compelled to cancel the popular radio personality.