Well before the advent of the hit show Police Woman, the writing duo of Wade Miller published A Hammer In His Hand about policewoman, Clover French. A killer is stalking women through the city and battering them with a balpeen hammer, and its up to French and the Elsies (short for LC or lady cop) to stop him. French and the others roam the streets posing as helpless victims. It is a police procedural suspense novel that leads the reader down a few wrong streets before its climax and showdown. There are a few really intense scenes such as the brutal opening murder. Most of the book focuses on the uniqueness of there being a female police officer, her attraction to her male partner, and her white form-hugging bathing suit. Although it never identifies a city, it is pretty clear from numerous clues that the action takes place in San Diego, where Robert Wade and Bill Miller grew up.
It is a fairly easy read. I might have preferred it to be more of a heavy duty thriller focusing only on the psychopath with the hammer. The opening pages are filled with sheer horror and suspense that really don't exist in much of the book. Overall, despite these minor criticisms, it's a fine paperback original and certainly worth a read. ( )