The Tin Collectors by Stephen J. Cannell
It took one moment to change his life: It begins with a call in the middle of the night from a woman at the mercy of her abusive husband. It ends with a split-second decision for LAPD detective Shane Scully. But the man Scully brings down is also his ex-partner, a cop with an impeccable reputation. Scully calls it self-defence. His department calls it murder. And it's touching everyone in his shadow including Chooch, a streetwise teen entrusted to his care, as well as the boy's mother, a prostitute whose high-profile connections and killer secrets have dubbed her the Balck Widow. It will take one woman to save it: It's Internal Affairs prosecutor Alexa Hamilton's job to strip the rank of bad cops. For an ice-queen tin collector with a reputation for destroying careeres, Scully's badge is her ultimate prize. But Alexa's investigation has only unearthed the truth about the man Scully killed - his treacherous double life that masked a labyrinth of deadly corruption. Now it's ushering the innocent into a shattering hall of mirrors wher everything's suspect, everyone's for sale and every chance at deliverance may be their last.