James Patterson and his co-author would have us believe that a near-endless stream of deception and coverup was the result of one quickie, of the sexual variety. They show us, in a swift, flowing read, how much suspense can be generated when a cop chooses to conceal her knowledge of a killer.

She does that because she saw the killing. And, it was her husband.

It all starts when Detective First Grade Lauren Stillwell of the Bronx Homicide Task Force, dressed to impress in her little black number, pays a surprise lunchtime visit to her businessman husband Paul, with whom things haven't been going so well lately. It's sort of an attempt to turn things around. But as she rounds the corner of his Manhattan office building, she spots him walking with a young blond. Classic. Lauren, true to her calling, follows them as far as the St. Regis Hotel on East 55th through whose doors they disappear from view, leaving Lauren to sit, blocking traffic, in her Mini Cooper, crying.

That night she gives him a chance to explain, to cop to it, to come clean. But he lies about what he did at lunch -- right to her face. So, can anyone blame her for doing something about it with handsome Scott Thayer, Detective Third Grade with Narcotics, a charming and funny fellow officer who has been courting her for a while now, with enough understanding and patience to penetrate her defenses?

As quickies go, this is a bell ringer. But the sound that has even more resonance is the crash of Scott's motorcycle when he's supposed to be going for dinner groceries afterward, at the all-night market. Which is what brings her to the window in time to witness Paul's attack and the mortal mano-a-mano combat that ends in Scott's death. New meaning to the term, "Quickie."

But, the ironies are only beginning. Lauren is assigned by her boss, Lieutenant Pete Keane, to be the primary investigator on this cop-killing case, with Detective Mike Ortiz as partner watching her back.

It can be assumed, of course, that when a lead investigator on a case fails to report what she knows, she's committed a crime and something in the realm of a stupid transgression. She understands all that, as well as the potential penalties awaiting her, like mortification among her peers and the loss of a job she adores. So, how does she expect to foil the revelations and clues that the investigation will produce? She doesn't exactly have it all under control, but through suppression, carefully timed substitutions, a wrong suspect, a little of her patented moxie and a generous dose of dumb luck, she astoundingly prevents the house of sand caving in on herself and Paul.

This beautiful and balsy lady is putting her own needs above the pursuit of law and order. Despite the organs of justice playing her personal funeral dirge, she keeps the charade and her marriage intact long enough to see a resurgence of the love she and Paul once had for each other. And, it goes so far that, despite being barren all these years, she becomes pregnant.

This happiness comes at a high price in terms of moral fiber, but the compensation, which also has a monetary side what with Paul accepting a new job at three time his already substantial income, is part of the calculation. But, can all this good fortune really last? Or, is it too good to be true? Are we being taken in? Count on it.

Read this book and see how a master novelist can put a wrinkle or two in the police procedural that will make it very difficult to put down. Not that there isn't a little authorial deception going on, but get past that and the propulsion of this novel is certain to entertain and amuse you without an excessive need to dope out the players nor to separate the plot from the literature.