Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin

Private detective Dana Cutler receives a seemingly routine assignment to follow a young girl working on a challenger’s campaign against the incumbent U.S. president. To Cutler’s shock, she witnesses a rendezvous between the young woman and the president. The next morning the woman’s mutilated body is discovered, and Cutler is suddenly a suspect. How can she prove her innocence against someone who has the power of the presidency at his disposal? Meanwhile, an associate in a law firm in Portland, Oregon, gets assigned the appeal of a serial killer on death row. The convicted felon claims he didn’t kill one of the victims—a young woman who was working for the state governor at the time—the same man who is now president. Could the president be a serial killer? Both story lines collide in this pulse-pounding thriller from genre veteran Margolin.

Reviews on goodreads mention:

• Dana being an ex-cop: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/237500084?book_show_action=false

• her having back story demonstrating why she's so tough and damaged: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/589352372?book_show_action=false

• the wife being the killer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/576556435?book_show_action=false

Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin

Private detective Dana Cutler receives a seemingly routine assignment to follow a young girl working on a challenger’s campaign against the incumbent U.S. president. To Cutler’s shock, she witnesses a rendezvous between the young woman and the president. The next morning the woman’s mutilated body is discovered, and Cutler is suddenly a suspect. How can she prove her innocence against someone who has the power of the presidency at his disposal? Meanwhile, an associate in a law firm in Portland, Oregon, gets assigned the appeal of a serial killer on death row. The convicted felon claims he didn’t kill one of the victims—a young woman who was working for the state governor at the time—the same man who is now president. Could the president be a serial killer? Both story lines collide in this pulse-pounding thriller from genre veteran Margolin.

Reviews on Goodreads mention:

• Dana being an ex-cop: Kevin Allmaras's review of Executive Privilege,

• her having back story demonstrating why she's so tough and damaged: Lori's review of Executive Privilege,

• the wife being the killer: John's reviews of Executive Privilege.