A Hard Rain by Dean Wesley Smith

The excerpts feature Dixon Hill, a private investigator in "the city by the bay," who is actually Captain Picard playing a role on the holodeck of a starship, revealed through mentions of Dr. Crusher, Mr. Data, and Captain's Logs. The primary narrative centers on Hill's urgent search for the "Heart of the Adjuster," a mysterious, gold-colored object essential to saving the city and preventing a catastrophic reality shift, which is complicated by the fact that death is temporary for many of the city's inhabitants. Hill and his associates, including Bev and Mr. Data, investigate powerful crime bosses like Cyrus Redblock, Benny the Banger, and Harvey Upstairs Benton, while simultaneously dealing with a murder case involving actress Marci Andrews and the reappearance of Detective Bell. The text concludes with the Heart of the Adjuster recovered and Hill moving on to a new mystery concerning a skeleton found walled up in his office building.