Books like Dragon fruit by Karen Keskinen

A small panga boat lands on a Santa Barbara beach at night, and drugs are quickly offloaded. But the vessel carries more than contraband: it carries the hope of a missing baby girl. Chucha Robledo arrives to retrieve her child, only to find the boat empty except for a tiny silver medallion. Desperate, she turns to the only person in town she can trust—private investigator Jaymie Zarlin. Jaymie’s brother died in police custody, a loss that has shaped her—and her own sense of justice. When she vows to find Chucha’s daughter, Jaymie is thrust head‑first into an underworld of human trafficking and drug smuggling. The local police pressure her to abandon the case, but Jaymie refuses, and soon she is alone hunting the most dangerous criminals in town. In her pursuit, she uncovers clues tying the trafficking network to the death of her brother, and each revelation brings her closer to both justice for Chucha’s child and the truth about her own past.

First publish date: 2016