Sandro Vasiliadis, a nurse at the Whidbey Island General Hospital, has died of an apparent heroin overdose. When his grieving mother bends over to kiss her son’s corpse at the viewing, she shrieks, “That’s not Sandro!” Convinced that her son must still be alive, Maria Vasiliadis hires Kyra Rachel and Noel Franklin to solve the mystery. With questions of foul play continuing to swirl around the death, the detectives’ inquiries lead them deeper into Sandro’s life and eventually to a medical clinic that specializes in transgendering.

The second in the Islands Investigations International Mystery series, Always Kiss the Corpse takes Kyra and Noel’s investigation from the rush of Seattle to the seeming peace of the San Juan Islands in this thrilling page-turner. It’s only once the detectives come to understand Sandro in life that they unlock the secret to his death. Also available in hardcover.