A "Detective-Investigator" has the equivalent rank of a police officer with the specification "Detective First Grade" (the highest), "Detective Second Grade", and "Detective Third Grade". Contrary to television cop shows, detectives do not have supervisory powers. While a First Grade Detective may supervise other detectives in her squad, she is still outranked in the chain of command by a uniformed police sergeant.
Karen lives in a "rough-around-the-edges" warehouse; she bought herself a loft here with her divorce settlement, and by got in on the ground floor by joining a group of people who bought the warehouse and converted it to apartments. Her apartment, naturally, is larger than usual, due to her investment in the purchase of the building. She has "interesting" neighbors, including a male gay threesome (one of whom hits on her) and a call girl living downstairs.
She first appeared in "The One Dollar Caper"* in Woman's World magazine, January 28, 2003. She has also appeared in "Bad Connection"** in Woman's World magazine, June 11, 2007, and again in "A Killing Season"*** in Woman's World magazine, September 1, 2008. (The editor changed Karen's first name to "Veronica" in this story for some reason.)
*Trivia note: the original title was "The Five Cent Caper"
**Trivia note: the original title was "Please Dial 9-1-1..."
***Trivia note: the original title was "A Hot Summer's Death"