Never Look Down by Warren C. Easley

Kelly Spence is hurt and angry.  Her beloved father was killed in a climbing accident and Spence is now a teenager on the run from foster care.  She takes out her anger at society by climbing to rooftops and painting tags on places that it seems impossible to reach.  Although her crime is mostly irritating, that doesn't mean she wouldn't be prosecuted if she was discovered.  Worse, she would be sent back into the foster care system she escaped.

Cal Claxton is a former prosecutor who lives in Portland where Kelly is tagging buildings.  Claxton is now in private practice and also devotes a lot of time to pro bono work with the homeless.  His path unknowingly intersects that of Kelly when she witnesses a murder on the street while she is on a rooftop above.  The murderer sees Kelly but has no way of reaching her.  That doesn't mean he isn't looking for her.  Cal gets pulled into the case when it turns out the woman murdered is the fiancee of one of his best friends.

Cal and the murderer are both looking for Kelly, one for good, one for evil purposes.  But Kelly fears both of them and is determined to hide from both.  She tries to find the man she saw commit the crime, figuring she can turn him in if she can only determine his identity.  Can Cal find Kelly before her dangerous game turns disastrous?

This is the third novel is Easley's series about Cal Claxton.  Cal is a sympathetic character with his emphasis on helping those who cannot help themselves.  He has retreated to Portland after the loss of his wife and while on the dating scene, the book is not filled with unlikely sexual encounters like so many detective novels seem to be.  Readers will be interested in the case and in Claxton and will be interested to read more about his work.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.