A retired detective. A body by the water. A cold case twenty-five years in the making.

Joe McCann was one of the best detectives the Justice, Illinois P.D. ever had — until he wasn’t. Now he runs a lakeside resort bar in the north woods, pouring drafts for the local mayor and trying to stay out of trouble.

When the body of a teenage girl is discovered at a lovers’ lane on Prescott Lake, the small-town chief of police asks McCann to take a look. He takes more than a look. Because the crime scene reminds him of something — a very old case, an eight-year-old girl, 1959 — and once McCann sees a thread, he can’t stop pulling it.

What unravels will lead him from the north Wisconsin woods to the suburbs of Chicago, through a web of corruption, buried evidence, and a predator who has been playing his game for decades — patient, invisible, and entirely certain he cannot be caught.

The Master of the Game is a richly atmospheric procedural thriller from a criminal justice professor and retired police officer who knows exactly how these cases break — and break the people working them.

Perfect for fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, and classic small-town crime fiction.

— Includes mature themes of violence and sexual assault. Intended for adult listeners. —