Hot Bits...Cold Steel: A Kevin Rhinehardt Mystery

Safecracking is making a comeback in the Southland. Dennis Fitch-known to authorities as "the Driller"-is knocking over fast-food joints all over Orange County. Crime lord Chuy Sepulveda, Fitch's go-between, runs a check-forging and credit-card-skimming operation out of a hideout called "the Shop," with members of Southern California's deadliest gangs to do his legwork.

When burglaries spike, the cops form a task force and put veteran detective Kevin Rhinehardt and rookie Will Phillips on t...