Billy Straight is a crime thriller by Jonathan Kellerman, centered on a twelve-year-old runaway who witnesses a brutal murder in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park and becomes a hidden target in the investigation. Detective Petra Connor and her partner Stu Bishop are assigned to the killing of Lisa Boehlinger Ramsey, the ex-wife of a famous television actor whose public history of violence immediately draws suspicion. While the police face media pressure, political caution and conflicting evidence, Billy remains alone on the streets, frightened to come forward and exposed to danger from both the killer and the city around him. The novel combines police procedural tension with a close look at vulnerability, survival and the moral urgency of protecting a child who understands too much but has almost no one to trust.
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Year published: 1998
Number of pages: 452