Detective Caitlin CC Calloway is happily married to the love of her life, Jamie. She and her family are settling into a new house, and life is good. Until things begin to change. Unexpectedly, CC finds herself having to break in a new partner, while someone is leaving a trail of bodies dangerously close to home, outwitting the police at every turn. 

To complicate matters more, US Marshal Val Brown steps in, threatening to take over. CC can’t bring herself to trust Val—with the case, or with her sister.

Not knowing who she can trust, CC is thrust into the most dangerous game of her life. In a desperate race against time, she fights to save her family, and herself, from the ultimate checkmate.

Checkmate is the exciting, long-awaited sequel to Mavis Applewater’s first novel, The Brass Ring.