Spring fever has hit Luis Mendoza, both on the job and at home. But it hasn't erased the LAPD's endless caseload of bizarre crimes and difficult cases.

''Dapper Dan'', the rapist and murderer whose dashing looks and easy charm give him the perfect ploy to trap his pretty victims; a stickup artist who has found a foolproof weapon: a ferocious Doberman; a gruesome double homicide-suicide with a weird twist; a senator's ''natural'' death that suddenly doesn't appear so natural - all add up to a month of murder most strange, and Mendoza knows it's time to finally clean house.

''A Luis Mendoza mystery means superlative suspense'' Los Angeles Times