I really love the idea of a retired group of police detectives getting together once a week to play poker and solve cold cases.  I am already in with knowing just that much. Add to the story the fact that they are in Las Vegas (a special place in my heart) and I am so gonna read this book!  

Retired Detective Bayard Lott’s Cold Poker Gang just got a new member, their first woman, Julia Rogers.  Having served in Reno, Julia is also a retired detective, but moved to Vegas to be closer to her daughter.  After a few months getting acclimated to the group, Julia suggests they review a particular cold case. Lott and the others are surprised when they find out that not only have they heard about the case but it was in fact Lott’s first homicide case.  

Being Lott’s first case, and the one that did not get solved, makes him immediately interested.  That doesn’t hold a candle to how he feels when he discovers that the case is the unsolved murder of Julia’s husband.  To top it off Lott is starting to really like Julia in more ways than just as a poker player.

So, I read the first in the series in one sitting.  Could not put it down. Twists and turns, well developed characters, good strong plot, setting just about perfect; the book has it all.  It is on the short side at 182 pages and the first in the “A Cold Poker Gang Mystery” series, so it basically acts like an introduction and sets the tone of subsequent books.  I really liked the book and have put the others in the series on my “to read” list.