Cornwell, Patricia. Southern cross. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1998. ISBN 0-399-14465-X.

Summary: An ensemble of police officers, wackos, delinquents, and rednecks interact and interfere with one another in contemporary Richmond, Virginia. The central tableau is the painting of the statue of Jefferson Davis in Hollywood Cemetary to make Davis look like a black basketball player. The investigation of this act of creative vandalism exposes more serious crimes.

Cornwell seems to be trying out the narrative style and general manner of Carl Hiaasen. I think that the experiment is mostly successful. She is not as cynical as Hiaasen and lacks his enthusiasm for graphic descriptions of bizarre mutilations, which leaves a little more room for her underlying love for the city to come through.