The fallen - Jefferson Parker

Strange bedfellows, shocking revelations, reputations in ruins - but cause enough to kill? Stunning thriller from the author of The Blue Hour, Red Light and Black Water.

There was nothing special about San Diego detective Robbie Brownlow until he plunged six storeys from a burning hotel. He was left with broken bones, a large scar, and synaesthesia - a condition where words take on shapes and colours that indicate the speaker's emotions. Now he's a human lie detector.

Murder victim Gus Asplundh relied on more conventional methods of detection. Hired to investigate rumours linking high-ranking officials with an elite prostitution ring, he turned to a computer genius for help. What he found in the Squeaky Clean Madam's little black book had the potential to ruin careers and bring down the city, but he was killed before he could act.

Now the dossier is in Robbie's hands. And the killer knows it.