Another murder, another unanswered question. And Detective Mendoza hates to leave things undone.
Hers was the kind of casual homicide that occurred every week in a city like Los Angeles in the sixties. Beaten, robbed, and left in an abandoned lot, Elena Ramirez's death was like many others... in fact, nearly identical to a murder that happened six months earlier-a case that Detective Luis Mendoza was never able to solve.
The detective isn't a fan of puzzles but knows one when he sees it. He puts two and two together-these vicious murders must have been committed by the same deranged individual-and leads the charge into a case that is astounding in its complexity. Along with the begrudging help of Detective-Sergeant Hackett, Mendoza must separate the many twisted threads of this crime-from murder to black-market adoption and extortion.
Considered the queen of the police procedural, Dell Shannon offers a glimpse into the world of police-work before the aid of forensics or technology. An Edgar Award finalist in 1961, Case Pending introduces the Mexican American Detective Mendoza, a dynamic character who will stop at nothing to find answers, working in a Los Angeles that had not forgotten the 1943 zoot suit riots targeting young Chicanos.