Dirty Looks

In the rain-soaked streets of King George County, Virginia, coroner J.J. Graves stands over the broken body of a young girl, a Jane Doe whose brutal murder shatters the quiet of Bloody Mary's Regent Park. Found naked under a park spotlight, the twelve-year-old victim—beaten, strangled, and violated—bears the marks of a killer's rage, her delicate heart necklace inscribed "Daddy's Girl" the only clue to her identity. As J.J. and Detective Martinez, a charismatic cop with a politician's charm, delve into the case, they uncover a chilling connection to Councilman Robert Lidle, a man whose polished exterior hides a sinister legacy.

With Sheriff Jack Lawson tied up in a high-profile trial, J.J. navigates a web of secrets alone with Martinez, their partnership tested by a crime that hits too close to home. The investigation leads to the opulent Lidle estate, where wealth and power mask a horrific truth: a trafficking ring orchestrated by Robert Lidle himself, preying on the vulnerable—including his own granddaughters, Emma and Evie. As J.J. uncovers layers of deception, from poisoned decanters to hidden accounts funneling millions, the body count rises—Kitty Lidle, Robert's wife, falls to poison, and Robert's apparent suicide raises suspicions of a cover-up. The stakes skyrocket when J.J. and Martinez zero in on Dr. Peter Bancroft, a psychologist with a predator's access to young girls, and his complicit wife, Tiffany.

Racing against time, J.J. confronts a network too vast to dismantle, where pawns like Lidle's secretary, Geoffrey, and head of security, Alan Goble, operate under fear of an untouchable elite. With forensic precision and raw determination, J.J. pieces together Evie's final moments—a desperate escape through dark fields, hunted like prey—while grappling with personal demons that threaten to unravel her marriage to Jack. In a gut-punch climax, justice comes at a cost, leaving J.J. to question whether one arrest can stem the tide of an epidemic that thrives in shadows.

Liliana Hart's Dirty Looks is a tour de force of suspense, blending forensic intrigue, psychological depth, and a relentless fight for the voiceless.