Heart of Stone — A.J. Llewellyn

Athen ‘Blackeye' Mavromatis moves from New York to Beverly Hills to be lead investigator in their serious crimes division. It isn't long before he gets his first case. A dead woman's body has been found wrapped in a carpet outside somebody's house ready for pickup with their trash. Athen must appease not only the police chief, but the mayor, in a city where murder doesn't happen often. In fact, this is the first homicide in eight years.

Athen must wrap things up quickly because nothing must tarnish the Beverly Hills image of being the home of movie stars and the most expensive store in the world. The cops here pride themselves on a one-minute response time to emergency calls, but this case won't get solved that fast. Secrets and lies, gangs, a mysterious woman…all of it is like a ticking timebomb. Meanwhile, Athen has his lover, Grady, at home, who worries about a strange link in his life with the dead woman. Who could have such a heart of stone to leave her out with the rubbish?