What It Was

What It Was is the eighteenth novel by George Pelecanos. It was first published in 2012. It is part of the Derek Strange and Terry Quinn series. It is set in Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner Frank "Hound Dog" Vaughn is still on the force. When a young woman comes to Strange asking for help recovering a cheap ring that she claims has sentimental value, the case leads Strange onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict has been murdered, shot point-blank in his apartment.

Soon both men are on the trail of a ruthless killer: Red Fury, so called for his looks and the car his girlfriend drives, but a name that fits his personality all too well. Red Fury doesn't have a retirement plan, as Vaughn points out—he doesn't care whom he has to cross, or kill, to get what he wants. As the violence escalates and the stakes get higher, Strange and Vaughn know that the only way to catch their man is to do it their own way.