San Francisco. Late September, 2004.

The Giants are hanging on to the slim hope of a spot in the Major League baseball playoffs.

The Forty-Niners are hoping for their first win of the season after three losses.

Vinnie "Strings" Stradivarius is in the intensive care ward at St. Francis Memorial Hospital?and Jake Diamond is hoping Vinnie will both survive and avoid a homicide indictment if he pulls through.

Vinnie has been double-crossed, shot and left for dead at a crime scene, and he is the chief suspect in the murder of one of the city's most influential businessmen.

Anyone who knows Vinnie knew he wouldn't hurt a fly.

But the District Attorney and the San Francisco Police Department brass don't know him?and they don't care. Pressure from the Mayor's Office and the public is calling for a quick indictment and conviction?and Vinnie is handy.

Jake Diamond has a strong dislike of the double-cross. If asked why the chicken crossed the road, Jake would suggest the road had crossed the chicken.

In a race against time?with the help of Darlene Roman, Detective Sergeant Roxton Johnson of the SFPD, Sonny "The Chin" Badalamenti, bookmaker William "Big Bill" Conway, and Mob Underboss Tony Carlucci?Jake frantically scrambles to find answers before the case is closed with Vinnie taking the fall.

In Abramo's first Jake Diamond mystery since the Shamus Award-winning Circling the Runway, Jake is determined to prove that you cross the chicken at your own risk.

Praise for the Jake Diamond mysteries:

"One of my all-time favorite PI series." ?Steve Hamilton, Edgar Award-winning author of The Lock Artist

"Think it's impossible to find a new take on the wise-cracking San Francisco PI? Meet Jake Diamond and think again...sharp and smart, convincing and complex." ?S.J. Rozan, Edgar Award-winning author of Absent Friends

"With Catching Water in a Net, Abramo shows a clear flair for the private eye genre and wisely keeps the twists coming fast enough that readers have no choice but to keep turning pages." ?San Francisco Chronicle

"J.L. Abramo's Circling the Runway takes up where Black Mask boys like Hammett, Gardner, and Carroll John Daly left off. It's loaded with tough guys and hard-boiled action?emphasis on the hard." ?David Housewright, Edgar Award-winning author of Unidentified Woman #15